


The Moon Calls

by ZoneRobotnik



Series: Hide the Moon Saga [3]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, F/M, Moon Powers Varian, Psychological Trauma, Rapunzel and Varian are both overprotective of each other and utter disasters, Rating increased from G to T because Hugo breaks the "no f bombs" rule frequently, The nightmare is far from over
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:34:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 46
Words: 123,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24696103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZoneRobotnik/pseuds/ZoneRobotnik
Summary: After escaping Gothel's clutches, Varian and Rapunzel adjust to life outside the walls of their tower. Unfortunately, the nightmare is far from over, and Destiny has something sinister in store for Varian.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel, Hugo/Varian (Disney: Varian and the Seven Kingdoms), Queen Arianna of Corona/King Frederic of Corona (Disney)
Series: Hide the Moon Saga [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1778857
Comments: 187
Kudos: 352





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

“Hyah!” Rapunzel cried with excitement as she urged her horse on as she raced through the woods.  
  
“Log!” Varian warned her from behind her and she dodged around it, laughing as the Eugene’s horse nearly stumbled into it.  
  
“You doing okay, Varian?” Rapunzel asked, glancing back at him.  
  
He only held on a bit tighter. “Mmhm.”  
  
She giggled and looked forward. “Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of horse-riding soon. It’s _so_ much more fun when you’re holding the reins!”  
  
“Eyes forward, Sunshine!” Eugene teased as he raced past her.  
  
“Oh no, you don’t!” She spurred the horse on faster.  
  
“Princess!”  
  
“Oh, shoot. They caught up.” Varian looked behind them.  
  
“Looks like they’re getting quicker about chipping themselves out of your goo.” Rapunzel looked over her shoulder, then at Eugene. “We need to lose them!”  
  
“Princess!”  
  
“This way!” Eugene led them down another path and then they leaped over a wide river before landing hard. Rapunzel looked back at their pursuers and then at Varian. “You okay? That was a hard fall.”  
  
“I’m fine, Rapunzel! Geez, I’m not made of _glass_.” He bumped his head against her back with a roll of the eyes.  
  
She giggled.  
  
“Hey, why not ride back with me, Varian?” Eugene suggested as they continued on.  
  
“What’s in it for me?” Varian asked teasingly.  
  
“What’s in it for _her_?” Eugene raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Favoritism.” Varian said shamelessly.  
  
Rapunzel laughed.  
  
“Oh, shoot, there’s more.” Eugene looked at Rapunzel. “Man, they’re persistent. We’ll have to split up. Meet you two at the wall?”  
  
Varian and Rapunzel nodded and then they split off from Eugene, riding off into the woods with the guards splitting off as well to follow them.  
  
“How’s Pascal doing?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
Varian looked at the chameleon nestled in Rapunzel’s hair on her shoulder. “Seems comfortable.”  
  
“Okay. Hang on, both of you!” She leaped over a large hole in the ground and the guards had to find a way around it, not wanting to test their luck.  
  
“We’re almost to Old Corona!” Varian told her.  
  
“Finally.” She laughed a bit. “But, we’re not going in, we’re going _around_!” She turned slightly and continued on, finally reaching the wall. The horse helped them both up onto it and they sat down to look out at the horizon.  
  
“Look at that view, boys.” She said, smiling.  
  
Varian chuckled a bit. “There’s so much world out there. Don’t you just wanna go see it?”  
  
“We _almost_ did.” Rapunzel shuddered.  
  
Varian nodded, thinking of their near-kidnapping by the Stabbington Brothers.  
  
“Haha!” Eugene said as he got up, catching their attention. “Okay, okay, I _know_ what you're thinking. Now, it may have _seemed_ like you won, but you gotta take into account that my hair is actually longer than yours now, so we gotta factor in wind resistance.” He ran his hand through his hair.  
  
“Sorry, wind resistance doesn’t work like that.” Varian teased him. “Your body would’ve been weighing you down more than your hair ever would.”  
  
“Nerd.” Eugene playfully nudged him as he sat down next to him.  
  
“Sounds like _you’re_ just a sore loser.” Rapunzel giggled.  
  
“Sure, whatever you gotta say to make yourself feel better.” Eugene grinned.  
  
Rapunzel looked out at the horizon again. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful, Eugene?”  
  
Eugene took her hand and Varian moved out of the way so he could scoot close to her. “Yes, yes I have.”  
  
They leaned in to kiss and someone cleared their throat, catching all their attentions.  
  
“The game's over, Your Highness. The welcoming ceremony is about to begin.” The Captain of the Guards said, looking exasperated.  
  
“Well, I think we showed those guards who's boss. Now, what do you say we go make you an official princess?” Eugene smiled and stood up with her, still holding her hand.  
  
“Oh, is that today?” Rapunzel said teasingly.  
  
“Haha, very funny. Now come on, we better get you back to the castle. Ooh, maybe I can squeeze in a royal massage. Before my daily trim, of course. Varian, you coming back with us or going home?” Eugene looked at him.  
  
“As if I’d miss my sister’s celebration?” Varian asked as they all got down.  
  
They got back onto their horses and followed the guards back, Varian hanging onto Rapunzel.  
  
“We were so close to getting out.” Varian sighed as Pascal echoed his statement.  
  
“We’ll get there someday.” Rapunzel assured him.  
  
“Hey, Rapunzel.” Eugene caught her attention and grinned. “Race you back.”  
  
Rapunzel gasped and laughed as he took off and spurred her horse on, taking off after him with the guards speeding up to follow them.  
  
\--  
  
“Welcome back, princess.” Cassandra said as she met them at the door. “Did you have fun?”  
  
“Uh-huh.” Rapunzel helped Varian down.  
  
“Good, because now you have to stop _playing_ and start acting like your title.” She said, leading her through the castle halls with Varian trailing after them like her shadow.   
  
“Oh boy, what do I have to do?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“Don’t worry, you’ve got a pretty full day.” Cassandra assured her.  
  
\--  
  
A pretty full day, Rapunzel found, was a bit of an understatement. She had to learn the names of all the maids again, she had to judge food choices, talk to the Advisor to the King (among other important people) and learn about etiquette and also learning names of all the royalty that had been invited.  
  
It was all a lot for her, but Varian dutifully took note for her in his mind. She could always rely on his memory skills, he could remember an entire book after having read it once. Just for kicks, she had had Cassandra teach Varian how to bow when she was learning to curtsy and she looked to him for advice on the food.  
  
“You know, he won’t _always_ be next to you.” Cassandra commented quietly.  
  
\--  
  
“Alright, I need to get her ready, so _you_ need to shoo.” Cassandra said, leading Rapunzel into her room.  
  
“Okay…” Varian frowned.  
  
“C’mon, short-stuff.” Eugene grinned and led him away.  
  
“You ever think your, uh, _brother_ is kind of…needy?” Cassandra remarked as she helped her get changed.  
  
“Well, it was just us for years, and he was pretty protective of me during those years. My…kidnapper was pretty…well, mean. She kept trying to break me down, and he kept building me back up. He just wants to make sure I’m not hurt, that’s all.”  
  
“Hm.” Cassandra started brushing Rapunzel’s hair. “I guess it’s understandable, then. That explains all the sleepovers, too.”  
  
Rapunzel giggled. “No, those are _my_ idea!”  
  
“Of course they are.” Cassandra rolled her eyes. “How you holding up?”  
  
“A bit frazzled, but I’m okay. I’m doing okay, right?” She looked in the mirror.  
  
“I know it’s a lot, but you’ll get it.” She smiled. “With or without your brother.”  
  
“Right. I got this.” Rapunzel nodded.  
  
“I'm glad you think so, Raps, 'cause this welcoming ceremony is just the beginning.” She shooed off the maids messing with Rapunzel’s dress. “Tomorrow's the festival, followed by the royal banquet, and that's all before the actual coronation on Sunday.” She paused. “Have I really been walking you around this whole time with you not wearing any shoes?”  
  
“Shoes are constricting!” Rapunzel argued.  
  
“Look, Rapunzel, I know this princess thing is new to you, but you've got to at least _try_ to act the part.” She went to get something to clean her feet before she’d put shoes on her.  
  
“Trust me, Cassandra. I _know_ how important this is to my dad.” Rapunzel assured her.  
  
\--  
  
King Frederic looked out the window anxiously, watching as the boats and carriages started to arrive.  
  
“As you've requested, Your Majesty, we've doubled security on both the main gates and the south towers.” The Captain said as he stood behind him.  
  
“Good. We will have guests from all over the world here and I don’t want anything to happen. Everything for my little girl’s coronation must be—” He looked over as Rapunzel came in followed by Cassandra and smiled fondly. “Perfect.”  
  
Rapunzel smiled. “Hi, dad.”  
  
He walked over and held her hands in his. “You don’t have to fear a single thing, Rapunzel. I will make sure that you are never hurt again.” He gently stroked her cheek and hugged her.  
  
“I know you will.” She smiled up at him.  
  
He nodded, then turned to the window. “Are you ready? As princess, you are not only representing yourself and the family, but all of Corona.”  
  
She pursed her lips and then smiled. “Don't worry, Dad. I won't let you down. But while we're on the whole princess, coronation thingy, I mean, all these royal activities are great, but do you think I might be able to catch a little downtime soon?” She asked, glancing to the side a bit.  
  
“I know this is all new, but you'll adjust. After all, your _friend_ seems to be getting on just fine.” King Frederic said, side-eyeing the door.  
  
\--  
  
“So, what do you think?” Eugene asked as his outfit was adjusted.  
  
“About?” Varian asked, looking a bit bored.  
  
“The outfit, of course!” Eugene looked over at the boy, who was also being dressed in something fancy for the event. “Does it fit me?”  
  
“Yeah, I guess.” Varian shrugged.  
  
“Well, I think it does. It just brings the whole new _look_ together, you know?” Eugene struck a pose, then sighed. “Ah, Varian, I got big plans.”  
  
“Big plans?” He asked as he tried to loosen his collar. He unbuttoned it and the maid dressing him rebuttoned it again. “Like what?”  
  
“Big plans for our future.” He pulled out a box and sighed happily. “I’m going to propose!”  
  
“Pro—Eugene, you’ve known us for _six months_.” Varian pointed out.  
  
“And I already know that I want to be with her forever.” Eugene smiled dreamily at the box. “I’m going to propose at her coronation!”  
  
“Don’t do that.” Varian pushed aside the hand that was trying to comb his hair out of his face.  
  
“Why not?” Eugene asked him. “You don’t approve?”  
  
“One, it’s only been six months. Two, she’s already overwhelmed as it is. Three, that’s a room full of strangers and she’s going to be pretty stressed out. Four, she doesn’t like big, romantic, public gestures. She’s been living in a tower; you think she’ll suddenly like being in the spotlight for something so intimate? It’s bad enough she’s in the spotlight because of her title.” Varian pushed the hand with the comb away again.  
  
“Oh…I didn’t think about that.” Eugene admitted sheepishly, putting the box away. “I guess it’s good she has you, who knows what kind of fool I would’ve made out of myself, huh?”  
  
“You’ll be okay.” Varian smiled. “You just need to look at things from her view. If you were in her situation, how would you feel about that?” He finally gave up and let the maid comb his bangs back out of his face before it was pinned in place neatly and the rest of his hair tied up in a low ponytail.  
  
Eugene chuckled. “Yeah.” He walked over and grinned. “Looking good, kid.”  
  
“I’m only wearing this thing for Rapunzel.” He said, looking himself in the mirror and frowning, unbuttoning the top button again. This time, the maid decided to just let him have his way since she got his hair.  
  
Eugene chuckled. “I’m sure you’ll get to like it.”  
  
“I’d prefer something a lot less _stuffy_.”  
  
\--  
  
“Varian!” Rapunzel greeted when she finally saw him again. “Aw, look at you! It matches your hair! And your hair is so tidy!”  
  
“Meh.” He looked her up and down. “Hey, she got you in shoes.”  
  
“It wasn’t easy.” Cassandra commented.  
  
“Varian, you’ll be with me for this, right?” Rapunzel said, suddenly anxious.  
  
“Already asked your dad.” Varian assured her. “I’ll try to keep you from making a mistake.”  
  
She smiled and hugged him. “Thanks. What would I do without you?”  
  
“Princess, it’s time.” Cassandra walked over and opened the door for them to join the King and Queen outside.  
  
“I should probably take Pascal.” Varian said, and she passed him over. Pascal blended in with his black shirt and then they went outside, Varian standing behind Rapunzel like an ever-constant shadow.  
  
Frederic smiled at her as they joined them and then they heard trumpets playing as carriages came into the courtyard. Rapunzel saw Eugene in the crown watching and started to wave, but Varian took her hand and subtly shook his head.  
  
“Right. Thanks.” She whispered quietly.  
  
He let go of her hand and then the first carriage opened as a footman declared, “Your Highness, I present Dame Elizabeth Van Hoskins of Rochester.”  
  
“Curtsy.” Varian reminded her quietly.  
  
Rapunzel gave a polite curtsy. “Welcome to Corona, Dame Elizabeth Van Hoskins!” She greeted politely.  
  
Varian gave her a small thumbs-up as the woman smiled politely and did her own curtsy before walking on.  
  
“I present Lieutenant Commander General James Rutherford-Carver III.” The next footman said.  
  
Rapunzel curtsied and smiled. “Welcome to Corona!”  
  
The man looked her up and down and then gave a bow at the waist before walking on.  
  
“You’re doing great.” Varian whispered behind her.  
  
Rapunzel beamed.  
  
“I present the Duchess of Quintonia.” The next footman announced as a woman with a high hairstyle stepped out of the carriage.  
  
‘What, she doesn’t have a _name_?’ Varian raised an eyebrow, but no one noticed since he was behind Rapunzel.  
  
“Welcome to Corona, Duchess!” Rapunzel curtsied. “May I just say, I _love_ your hair!”  
  
“This is a handwoven coiffure weft from the finest silk and vicuna fabrics. It designates high social status. You think you'd _know_ that.” The woman said condescendingly.  
  


“I’m still learning everything.” Rapunzel said awkwardly. “I was… _missing_ , after all.”  
  


“Hm.” The woman walked on.  
  
Varian watched her go, taking Rapunzel’s hand comfortingly. She smiled at him and brightened up, ready for the next carriage.  
  
‘I should look into that Duchess.’ Varian thought.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With suspicion weighing heavily on their minds, they still work to go through the event. When things take a downhill turn, Cassandra helps Rapunzel and Varian take a short break from the stress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney
> 
> ((A/N: Apologizes for that confusion! I forgot to click the box, apparently. There are MANY more chapters to come, don't worry!))

“Well, that wasn’t so bad. I mean, aside from Duchess Bighair.” Eugene said jokingly after they were safely inside her room to talk.  
  
“What was her problem? _Everyone_ knows you were _missing_ for most of your life.” Varian frowned. “Eugene, did you hear her name?”  
  
“Why, was it funny?” Eugene joked.  
  
“She doesn’t _have_ one.” Varian shook his head. “Everyone else gave their titles and names, but not _her_. Don’t you think it’s suspicious?”  
  
“Yeah, actually. A little. Rapunzel?” Eugene looked at her.  
  
Rapunzel looked unsure. “I…I don’t know. I don’t want to think about it, I’m just trying to focus on what I have to do. I mean, there’s the royal banquet tomorrow, I don’t want to make a fool of myself…”  
  
“Hey,” Eugene took her hand. “You’ll do great.”  
  
She smiled and moved closer to him. “You think so?”  
  
“I know so.” He leaned in to kiss her.  
  
“Alright, Fitzherbert. Out.” Cassandra walked into the room. “She needs to be rested for tomorrow and _you’re_ not allowed in here when she’s going to bed.”  
  
“What—you couldn’t wait five seconds? Or a minute? I swear, they are timing these things!” Eugene gave Rapunzel a quick peck on the lips before Cassandra yanked him away and forced him out. “See you tomorrow, sunshine!”  
  
Cassandra shut the door behind him and sighed, turning to Varian. “Don’t you have a guest room?”  
  
“Have I _ever_ used it?” He smirked smugly.  
  
“No.” She rolled her eyes.  
  
“Can you help me out of this outfit? I’m pretty sure it’s tailored to be removed by someone else.” Varian made a face while Rapunzel laughed.  
  
“You just need to get used to moving in it.” Cassandra walked over and unfastened his overcoat for him. “There.”  
  


Varian reached up to remove the pins keeping his bangs back and untied his hair while Cassandra moved to help Rapunzel get changed for bed.  
  
“Hey, cheer up.” Cassandra smiled. “You’ll be able to go around town tomorrow, remember?”  
  
“Yeah!” Rapunzel nodded. “It’ll be nice to relax!”  
  
\--  
  
To her dismay, guards flanked her every move. Luckily, Varian had somehow managed to convince the King to let him go with her, so they had to give them _some_ space instead of trapping Rapunzel between them like they planned.   
  
“So, shall we get some candy?” Rapunzel asked him as they walked through the town.  
  
Varian nodded.  
  
They found that the guards kept trying to intervene in every attempt Rapunzel did to interact with people, but they backed up when Varian’s eyes started to glow after the third intervention. They hated to admit it, but the boy was _kind_ _of terrifying_. With his stopping the interventions but also watching closely, Rapunzel was able to enjoy her morning out in town.  
  
Plus, her ever-present pet chameleon was giving them looks of death if they got too close.  
  
“Varian, which should I pick?” She asked, looking at two different kind of sweets.  
  
“Can you get one of each?” He suggested.  
  
“Oh! Of course!” She bought one of each and offered him one with a smile. “We’ll share!”  
  
“Princess Rapunzel!” A little girl ran up to them and Rapunzel smiled. “You’re really beautiful!”  
  
“Aww, thanks! You’re really pretty, too!” Rapunzel said cheerfully.  
  
“Rapunzel.” Varian tapped her shoulder. “They’re getting antsy, I think it’s about time to go back.”  
  
“Oh, right.” She nodded. “It was nice to meet you!” She said cheerfully to the little girl before they headed back with the guards.  
  
\--  
  
“Had a good time?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“Well, somewhat.” Rapunzel nodded.  
  
“Somewhat?” Cassandra raised an eyebrow.  
  
“King Fredric is…stifling.” Varian explained. “He had guards uncomfortably close and she couldn’t really interact with people until I intervened.”  
  
“I just want to see more of the world. I’m so _tired_ of being locked into one place.” Rapunzel said glumly. Pascal patted her cheek soothingly.  
  
“Sounds like you could use a break.” Cassandra smiled. “What if I told you that I could get you in and out of here before anyone even knew that we were gone?”  
  
Rapunzel’s eyes lit up. “You can do that?”   
  
“Yeah.” She grinned. “What you do when no one's looking is _your_ business.”  
  
There was a knock on the door and then the door opened. “The royal banquet is ready to receive the princess now.” A woman said.  
  
“Can you take Pascal?” Rapunzel turned to Varian, who nodded and accepted the chameleon, who once again blended with his fancy shirt.  
  
“You can do this.” Varian smiled. “I won’t be sitting with you, but I’ll be there.”  
  
“You won’t be?” Rapunzel looked startled.  
  
“He’s not royalty, Rapunzel.” Cassandra reminded her.  
  
“Right.” She brushed her hair behind her ear. “Let’s…go in.”  
  
\--  
  
Eugene was, apparently, seated at the table with the other children. Varian sat between him and a kid that apparently can’t keep her hands to herself, but he blocked her hands well-enough without being too disruptive about it.  
  
“Why didn’t they let you sit with her? She looks lonely over there.” Eugene said, looking over at Rapunzel as another kid poked his cheek. “And why am I even at this table?”  
  
“I'm in charge of the seating charts. One of the perks of the job.” Cassandra said slyly as she passed by.  
  
“I don’t think she likes you.” Varian remarked, watching her go.  
  
Eugene fumed and then sighed, pulling out the box with the ring he had earlier.  
  
“No.” Varian shook his head.  
  
“I know, I know. I just…” He put the box away. “I just thought it would be a good idea.”  
  
“Well, I already gave you _four_ reasons why it’s _not_.” Varian hissed.  
  
“Yeah, okay, I know. Don’t…don’t glow your eyes at me or whatever.” Eugene poked at his food.  
  
Varian sighed, forcing himself to calm down. He shouldn’t get so quick to anger; he knew that Eugene only meant well. He was just so used to having to defend her from people that wanted to hurt her emotionally. He decided to turn his attention instead to the Duchess of Quintonia, who was still wearing that coiffure.  
  
\--  
  
Rapunzel sat with her parents, her body tense. Fredric noticed right away and realized what it could be about. “I don't understand why you are so upset, sweetheart. I said you could do whatever you wanted. That's exactly what you did.”  
  
“Hmm, you didn't say anything about a battalion tagging along. If Varian hadn’t come along as well, I would’ve had a rather unpleasant morning.” Rapunzel replied with a stiff smile.  
  
“Why would I need to? You're royalty, making a public appearance.” Fredric reasoned with the same stiff smile.  
  
“But, dad…” She glanced at him.  
  
\--  
  
“She looks like she’s feeling down.” Eugene stood up. “Time to lighten the mood!”  
  
“What are you doing?” Varian frowned at him.  
  
Eugene got up and walked over to the royal table. “Ladies and gentlemen, Dukes and Duchesses, Barons and Baronesses, Marquis and, you know, the female version of those, may I share a moment of history with you. Princess, would you join me up here?”  
  
Rapunzel looked confused, but got up to join him anyway. “Eugene, what are we doing?”  
  
“Tonight, we celebrate our love for the princess. I, for one, can think of no better way to celebrate the love I have for this woman than this.” Eugene dropped on one knee, taking her hand in his.  
  
“What is he doing?” Cassandra asked, frowning.  
  
Varian got up from his chair silently, his head bowed.  
  
“Eugene, are you okay?” Rapunzel asked with concern.  
  
“Rapunzel, I am more okay _now_ than I have _ever_ been in my life.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out the box, opening it.  
  
“What?” Rapunzel blinked.  
  
“Rapunzel, from the moment I first met you, and you knocked me out with that frying pan, I knew it was love. You're my light, you're my best friend and I want to be your partner in all things. I can't wait to laugh with you and share with you. I see us raising our children here, and our children's children, and celebrating banquets of our own in this very hall for many, many, many, many years to come. I want to ride our horses out to the Corona wall together each and every morning until we're both very, very old and grey. I love you, Rapunzel, and I want to spend the rest of our lives here together.” Eugene declared, smiling lovingly up at her.  
  
“Eugene…what…I…” She stammered, her face turning pink. “I…” She looked around at the people attending the banquet, her body starting to tremble, and then turned and ran out of the room.  
  
“Rapunzel?” Eugene frowned.  
  
“You IDIOT!” Varian ran over to him. “After I told you _not_ to do it, you still did it!” He turned and ran off to find her, Cassandra following him out.  
  
“I…I thought…it would cheer her up.” Eugene said numbly.  
  
“Wait, who was that kid?” He heard someone ask.  
  
\--  
  
“Oh, I feel horrible about Eugene. I... I do love him, and I wanna marry him someday... but not like this!” Rapunzel said as she paced the floor of her bedroom. “Ugh! I need to get out and clear my head without a fleet of guards tailing me!”  
  
Varian sighed, then looked at Cassandra. “You said you knew a way out?”  
  
Cassandra smiled. “Let me get changed real quick, then we’ll head out. You should change into something more comfortable, too.” She unfastened Varian’s overcoat for him and left the room. “Come meet me in my room when you’re ready.”  
  
“I told him not to do it. I said you wouldn’t take it well.” Varian shook his head.  
  
“He’s…” She sighed. “He means well…I just…and I _do_ love him, I really do…”  
  
Varian nodded. “I know.”  
  
\--  
  
Cassandra, it turns out, had a secret stash of battle gear in her room, and an outfit that was definitely not one they expected for her. It was a warrior’s outfit, a tunic and leggings and gloves and boots and even a sword.  
  
Varian had changed back into his usual clothes, sans apron, and Rapunzel was back in her favorite purple dress.  
  
“Alright, you two ready?” Cassandra grinned, handing them both cloaks as she put on one herself.  
  
“Yeah. Pascal is covering for me, we’ll be fine.” Rapunzel assured her.  
  
“Then, let’s go.” Cassandra smiled and led the way.  
  
\--  
  
Cassandra led them to a dark room with a tapestry. She pulled it aside and Rapunzel gasped. “Is that a secret passage?!” She headed for it.  
  
“Well, it _was_ , until you announced it to the whole cast….and she’s gone.” She sighed and followed her, Varian following behind.  
  
“This is so exciting!” Rapunzel whispered as they walked through the secret tunnel.  
  
“Quiet now, or we’ll be discovered.” Cassandra warned her.  
  
“Ohp.” Rapunzel nodded, keeping quiet.  
  
Once they were out, they stepped out into town. Rapunzel brushed herself off and grinned. “That was so fun!”  
  
“I'd like to take this opportunity to remind you that we're supposed to be _sneaking_ out.” Cassandra said patiently.  
  
“Cass, I think you'll discover that I can be _pretty_ sneaky when I need to.” Rapunzel said proudly.  
  
Varian coughed “Since when?” into his glove and she shoved him lightly.  
  
Cassandra suddenly pushed them both to the side and then covered their mouths. A guard walked by, not noticing them there.  
  
  
“Nightly patrols. We can get by them if we time it right.” Cassandra explained quietly.  
  
“Wait, how did you know they were coming?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
Cassandra smiled and pointed up. “I have eyes in the sky.” She extended her arm and an owl swooped down and landed on her gauntlet.   
  
“That is amazing. You have your own owl! What's his name?” Rapunzel asked eagerly.  
  
Cassandra stared blankly. “Owl.”  
  
She raised her arm and the Owl lifted off. Then she clicked her tongue and Maximus and the horse Rapunzel was riding earlier, Fidella, came into the area.  
  
“Max?” Rapunzel smiled.  
  
“When he heard I was sneaking you out, he wanted to come along.” Cassandra nudged her. “Plus, I think he has the hots for _a certain someone_.” She nodded towards Fidella.  
  
Max looked embarrassed and Rapunzel smiled. “I’ll be our secret.” She told him.  
  
\--  
  
Their trip took them to a boat and Cassandra started to steer it as Varian, Rapunzel, Fidella and Maximus sat still.  
  
Once they were far enough from the city, Rapunzel relaxed and started to sing, to Cassandra’s surprise.  
  
“ _Seems like I've spent my whole life hoping  
Dreaming of things I've never tried  
Tangled in knots, just waiting for my time to shine_.”  
  
Cassandra raised an eyebrow and looked at Varian, who shrugged with a smile as Rapunzel sang on.  
  
“ _What if the doors began to open?_  
 _What if the knots became untied?  
What if one day nothing stood in my way  
And the world was mine?  
Would it feel this fine?_”  
  
She slowly stood up, holding onto Maximus’ saddle.  
  
“ _'Cause I got the wind in my hair,  
And a gleam in my eyes  
On an endless horizon!  
_ _I got a smile on my face and I'm walking on air!  
_ _And everything life ought to be,  
_ _It's all gonna happen to me out there.  
_ _And I'll find it, I swear,  
_ _With the wind in my hair!_ ”  
  
“Alright, sis, sit down before you rock the boat.” Varian tugged on her hand.  
  
She giggled and sat down, nudging him. “Come on, you’re just as excited, aren’t you?”  
  
“Mm, maybe not as excited as you.” He chuckled.  
  
The boat hit land and they got out, getting on their horses. Rapunzel and Varian climbed onto Maximus while Cassandra got on Fidella.  
  
“Let’s go.” Rapunzel smiled and they set off. She looked forward as they went through the woods, continuing to sing.  
  
“ _So many roads I've yet to travel.  
So many friends I haven't met.  
So many new adventures just around the bend._”  
  
They leaped over a river together.  
  
“ _Plenty of mysteries to unravel.  
Tons of mistakes to not regret.  
So much to see, and to do, and to be.  
_ _A whole life to spend,  
_ _And it doesn't end._ ”  
  
She spurred Maximus on faster and Fidella kept pace with Cassandra’s urging.  
  
“ _'Cause I got the wind in my hair  
And a song in my heart,  
And the fun's only starting!  
I got a skip in my step and I haven't a care!  
  
_ _And everything life ought to be,  
_ _Well, I know that it's waiting for me out there.  
_ _And I'll find it, I swear,  
_ _With the wind in my hair!_ ”  
  
They stopped at an old, stone bridge. There were clear cracks in the stones, and the horses looked uncertain.  
  
“Just remember, no one can _ever_ know I took you outside the walls of Corona.” Cassandra told them.  
  
“Don't worry! No one is going to find out.” Rapunzel assured her.  
  
They started forward, but the horses looked really scared when the bridge shifted under their feet.  
  
“Okay…this looks like it might be dangerous for them.” Rapunzel climbed down and helped Varian off before cupping Maximus’ snout in her hands. “Can you watch Fidella for me while I’m away?”  
  
He nodded and then Cassandra got down before they slowly made their way across the bridge. Varian gasped as his hair started glowing.  
  
“Uh…what are you angry about now?” Cassandra asked warily.  
  
“…Nothing.” He frowned. “It’s just…glowing.”  
  
“I thought it only glowed when you got angry?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
Varian shrugged helplessly.  
  
They decided to continue on and worry about it later.   
  
“So, what did you want to show us?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“Well, I actually thought of it because of your brother there.” Cassandra admitted. “It’s better if you see it for yourself.”  
  
Varian looked confused and they walked down the cliff, following her lead.  
  
They found a stone monument surrounded by black rocks. Varian’s eyes widened and he walked towards it.  
  
“Black rocks? Varian, did you…?” Rapunzel looked at him.  
  
“No.” He shook his head. “I didn’t do this, and mine don’t _get_ this big, not unless I’m _really_ angry or desperate. And they only appear where I’ve been, and I’ve _never_ been here.”  
  
“They’re beautiful…” Rapunzel breathed, walking closer to them.  
  
“Are they also indestructible?” Varian turned to Cassandra.  
  
“Yeah.” She pulled out her sword and walked over to slash at them, and Varian pulled Rapunzel back to avoid being hit. The sword was destroyed instantly. “You wanna know the weirdest part?”  
  
“Oh, it gets weirder?” Varian asked.  
  
“What is it?” Rapunzel asked eagerly.  
  
“This is the exact spot where the Sundrop Flower was, before it was taken to heal the Queen and save your life.” Cassandra explained. “This monument is about that.”  
  
Rapunzel walked over to the monument and brushed aside some dust. The rocks started to glow and Varian gasped sharply, falling to his knees and holding his head and his chest, his body trembling and his breathing picking up.  
  
“Varian?!” Rapunzel turned to him, bumping her hand against a rock as she did. A bright, golden light suddenly exploded, throwing all three of them back into the cliff. “AHHHHHHH!”  
  
\--  
  
When the light finally faded, Cassandra woke up before the other two. The first thing she noticed was the monument was completely destroyed. The second thing she noticed was that Rapunzel’s hair was…different. “Uh…Raps?” She knelt next to them and gently shook them both awake. “Oh, god, don’t be dead. I mean, you’re glowing, so you’re not dead, right?” She looked at Varian. “I need to get you two glowing kids away from this place…”  
  
“Nn…” Rapunzel groaned as she started to wake up, then gasped and looked at Varian. “Varian, are you okay?!”  
  
“Hn...” He slowly opened his eyes and looked up at her. “…Nevermind _me_ , what’s going on with _you_?”  
  
“Huh?” Rapunzel grabbed the glowing lock of blonde hair like she’d just noticed it. “…Oh my god.”  
  
Black rocks suddenly burst out of the ground. They quickly got up and fled back up the cliff.  
  
“What’s going on with these rocks, Varian?!” Rapunzel asked as they ran.  
  
“I have no idea!” Varian cried. “I’m not making them and I’m not controlling them! Supposedly there’s an incantation, but I don’t know it!”  
  
“Run, run, run!” Cassandra cried.  
  
Cassandra stopped by a large, dead tree and kicked it down to try to stop the rocks before they ran on.  
  
“What was the point of that?! You _know_ that they’re indestructible!” Varian asked as they continued running.  
  
“I thought it would slow them down!” Cassandra replied sharply.  
  
As they ran, Rapunzel’s hair started to become more and more blonde until finally, they burst out of the woods and her hair, in a flash of golden light, grew out long and blonde like it’d never been cut.  
  
“Oh no…” Rapunzel looked at herself in horror.  
  
“We have to keep moving!” Cassandra told her.  
  
Varian gathered up her hair and Cassandra gathered up what he couldn’t before they kept running, the black rocks still chasing.  
  
“Why is my hair long again?!” Rapunzel cried. “What happened?!”  
  
“We’ll worry about it later!” Cassandra told her. “Keep running!”  
  
They reached the stone bridge and it started to shake, making all three of them fall. Varian growled and turned to the black rocks chasing them, holding out a hand as Rapunzel and Cassandra tried to get her hair free of a crack in the bridge. “ENOUGH!” He yelled, his own black rocks shooting up and slamming into the other ones. They seemed to slow down, then smashed right through.  
  
Varian lowered his hand, startled by the sight.  
  
“Well, it was worth a shot.” Cassandra said, taking his hand and pulling him along as they fled across the crumbling bridge.  
  
The bridge collapsed under them and Rapunzel grabbed onto them before she swung her hair up. “MAXIMUS, CATCH!”  
  
To her relief, the horse caught her hair and started to pull them up, Fidella most likely helping at his urging.   
  
“So… _this_ ….is a thing.” Cassandra said as they went up slowly.  
  
Varian and Rapunzel looked over at the block rocks, who seemed to have stopped their rampage. “…Apparently…black rocks can destroy black rocks.” Varian said awkwardly.  
  
They got up onto the side of the chasm with the horses and took a bit of time to breathe before Rapunzel looked at her hair in horror. “We have to get it cut before tomorrow.” She said with wide eyes.  
  
“We have lots of stuff to do that at home.” Cassandra assured her. “We just have to…sneak you back in. Easy.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded, then looked at Varian, who was no longer glowing. “You okay?”  
  
He nodded. “Those black rocks must be from the Moonstone Opal.” He looked towards them. “But…why are they all the way here?”  
  
“They sprouted up after the Sundrop Flower was taken.” Cassandra reminded them. “Maybe it’s connected."  
  
“Maybe…” Varian nodded.  
  
“I thought that _you_ were the Moonstone?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“I’m a _piece_ of it. Go…” He faltered. “Our kidnapper told me that a wave of energy was sent out when the Moonstone was attacked, and some of its power was removed. Then I was born with the missing power years later.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded. “So…if you had the Moonstone, you _might_ be able to control the rocks.”  
  
“That, or at least the incantation.” Varian shrugged.  
  
“We need to get back.” Cassandra told them. “Before someone notices you’re gone.”  
  
Rapunzel groaned. “If we don’t get this cut…my father is going to kill me.”  
  
“Or just lock you in a tower.” Varian shrugged.  
  
Rapunzel groaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What the HAIR?!


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's hair is long again and Varian has to think fast on how to hide what happened. Unfortunately, there's trouble at the Coronation and everything goes downhill from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

“We’ve got a problem.” Cassandra said as they finally got back to the city, the sun shining down on them. “Because of the coronation, they've doubled security at the gates today.”  
  
“And there's no other way in?” Rapunzel asked worriedly.  
  
“Sure, if you want to walk in the front door in broad daylight.” Cassandra said sarcastically.  
  
Rapunzel looked around, then gasped. “Maybe we don’t need the front door…”  
  
Varian and Cassandra looked at where she was looking.  
  
\--  
  
Mamixus walked to Rapunzel’s room and approached the guards. He noticed one of them wearing a cravat and stared it down.  
  
“I told him it wasn’t protocol, sir.” The other one said.  
  
Maximus motioned for them to go, then entered the room, shutting the door behind him. Then he went to the window as Rapunzel’s hair was thrown in and he grabbed onto it with his teeth, pulling them up.  
  
“Phew!” Rapunzel said as they got inside. Then she shut the door and looked around. “Okay, hand me the scissors. A knife. Anything.”  
  
Cassandra brought over the scissors, and they broke when they tried to cut her hair. Cassandra and Varian then kept bringing over various things to cut her hair with, Cassandra even went to her room and got some weapons she had been stashing away, but none of them worked.  
  
“I can’t believe this.” Rapunzel looked at her hair. “Why won’t it cut?”  
  
“Hey, at least it doesn’t cut and then grow back instantly.” Varian sighed, his breath knocking against his long bangs, the streak ever-present.  
  
“Is the magic… _mad_ at me?” Rapunzel looked confused.  
  
“Well, luckily, I can do some tests on it back at home and we can try to figure it out.” Varian assured her. “But, right now, you have a coronation and 70 feet of hair to hide from your parents.”  
  
Rapunzel let out a whimper and Varian gently hugged her. “Hey, we’ll figure it out.”  
  
“You gonna be okay?” Cassandra asked. “I gotta…get changed. I’ll be back.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded and she headed out, closing the door behind her.  
  
“Maybe we can just say it’s a wig. You’re blonde in your mural, after all.” Varian suggested.  
  
“Y-Yeah, we can try that.” Rapunzel nodded.  
  
“Alright, let me see what I can do to make it look shorter. A braid worked before…” Varian started to work on her hair as Rapunzel stared in the mirror helplessly.   
  
“Sunshine? Are you in there?”  
  
Rapunzel paled. “Eugene.”  
  
“It’s okay, we’ll just tell him it’s a wig.” Varian assured her. “We’re in here!”  
  
The door opened and Eugene walked in. “Rapunzel, where have you been?! You…what?”  
  
“Surprise!” Varian gestured to her hair. “She asked for me to make her a blonde wing, since she thought the people didn’t quite _know_ her anymore with short, brown hair!”  
  
“Oh, I…I guess that makes sense. Yeah.” Eugene walked over to them. “Why is it so long, though?”  
  
“Obviously, so the little girls can have fun braiding it.” Varian said as he continued to braid her hair. “Now, we have to keep getting her ready. Did you need something?”  
  
“Uhm…so, you snuck out at night for a wig?” Eugene asked.  
  
“Obviously. We didn’t want to do it in broad daylight, and we had to go all the way to my lab in Old Corona. And you should know, it wasn’t easy making this thing. I had to find the perfect flower to use for dye, and it had to be just the right material to feel real. Here, run your hand through it.” Varian invited.  
  
Eugene walked over and ran his hands through the part of her hair that wasn’t braided. “Oh, wow. It _does_ feel real! Nice work, Varian!”  
  
“Thank you.” Varian looked back at his work. “Now, I need to get this ready. Cassandra will be back soon, she was escorting us.”  
  
“Why Cassandra and not—”  
  
“By the way, I’m mad at you for last night.” Varian cut him off. “I told you not to do it, and you did!”  
  
Eugene looked down, ashamed. “Ah…yeah.”  
  
Cassandra came back in. “Alright, is she all styled? Fitzherbert, out of the room.” She shooed him out.  
  
“Might be a bit.” Varian said as he kept braiding.  
  
“Alright, I’ll get her dress and shoes ready while you do that. I said OUT, Fitzherbert!” Cassandra glared at him.  
  
“Okay, okay…” Eugene left, closing the door behind him.  
  
Cassandra waited for a bit then opened the door and looked out before closing it and walking over to Varian. “What’d you tell him?”  
  
“He knew we left last night.” Varian replied. “I told him we went to Old Corona to pick up the wig.”  
  
“Well, that’s less likely to get me in trouble.” Cassandra nodded. “…What if your dad says we were never there? Isn’t he coming today?”  
  
“I can explain what really happened. Maybe he’ll have some information for us.” Varian said as he continued braiding Rapunzel’s hair.  
  
“Alright.” Cassandra nodded, then went to get her dress and shoes ready.  
  
“It’s a wig…it’s a wig…it’s a wig…oh god, what if my father asks me to take it off?” Rapunzel asked anxiously.  
  
“Well, honestly the hair itself isn’t the problem. It’s the magic. As long as you don’t use the magic, then maybe he’ll understand. I mean, _I’m_ walking around, and I don’t have control over my magic like you do.” He reminded her.  
  
“Mm…you think we should tell him the truth, then?” She asked.  
  
“I think that we should keep up the wig lie as long as possible, at least until this stressful event is over.” Varian said, frowning. “There’s still that Duchess to worry about.”  
  
“Duchess?” Cassandra walked over to them.  
  
“Yeah, the mysteriously nameless ‘Duchess of Quitonia’.” Varian replied.  
  
“We think she’s suspicious.” Rapunzel nodded.  
  
“Well, if she tries anything, the guards will stop her.” Cassandra assured her.  
  
“There.” Varian stood back, looking over his handiwork. “Just like the first time we went to the festival.”  
  
Rapunzel turned slightly in her seat to look at it in the mirror. “Mm…had more flowers then.”  
  
“Don’t be picky.” Varian nudged her. “But, we can get you flowers, if you want.”  
  
“Just make sure they match your dress. Come on, time to get dressed.” Cassandra looked at Varian. “Need me to help you, too?”  
  
Varian shrugged. “May as well.”  
  
“Okay, after her.” She said as Rapunzel got up to get dressed.  
  
\--  
  
“Rapunzel…what is this?” King Fredric said as they joined the King and Queen on the terrace for breakfast.  
  
“It’s a wig that I had Varian make for me.” Rapunzel said, playing with a strand by her ear. “I…thought that people didn’t recognize me properly with short, brown hair. And, honestly, I didn’t quite feel like myself, either.”  
  
“Oh…a wig.” Fredric looked relieved. “It’s…it’s very good. Practically real.”  
  
“Thank you.” Varian said with a pleased smile.  
  
“It’s certainly better quality than the Duchess of Quintonia’s.” Arianna remarked, smiling.  
  
King Fredric cleared his throat. “Rapunzel…I wanted to talk to you. There’s some things I need to say, before everything.”  
  
Okay.” Rapunzel said, nodding.  
  
He took her hand in his. “Yes... Rapunzel, last night, your mother and I had a discussion. I know that I'm not always able to separate the man from the king and separating the father from the king has proven even more difficult.” He sighed. “Sweetheart, I know this new life is hard to get used to, and I'm sure that sometimes you wish I would get out of your hair.”  
  
Rapunzel kept up her smile, even as she was starting to feel nervous.  
  
“Rapunzel, you are going to be queen someday. A great queen with a magnificent kingdom. But you know better than anyone else what a dangerous and evil place the world can be.” He looked at Varian. “Both of you do. I hope, Varian, you can be by her side when the time comes for her to lead.”  
  
Varian nodded. “Of course.”  
  
King Fredric nodded, then looked back at Rapunzel. “And the barrier keeping us safe from that evil is sometimes more fragile than it appears. When that evil rears its ugly head, it is my job to protect Corona from it. And one day, that will be _your_ responsibility. And I must teach you how to carry it. But that is many, many years away. Until that burden is imposed on you, I'm asking that you trust me that I know how to keep danger as far away from you and this kingdom as is humanly possible.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded solemnly.  
  
“Do you understand? It wasn’t until last night that I realized that my methods may have at times seemed strict or unfair or...” He faltered.  
  
“So… Does this mean I can have more time to myself without having half the royal guard over my shoulder?” Rapunzel asked hopefully.  
  
“Well, this means I'm willing to reconsider those methods. But I make no promises.” Fredric smiled.  
  
“I can work with that.” Rapunzel smiled and kissed his cheek, then got up. “Well, I should go. Got a lot of princess-ing to do.” She headed for the door. “Coming, Varian?”  
  
He got up and headed after her. “Oh.” He looked at King Fredric. “Any word on when my father is arriving?”  
  
“Soon, I suspect. He said he’ll be in his formal best for the event.” King Fredric assured him.  
  
Varian nodded and followed Rapunzel out.  
  
Rapunzel waited until they were far enough and then let out a breath of relief. “It worked!” She whispered excitedly. “He really thinks it’s just a wig!”  
  
“Of course he does.” Varian grinned. “And your ‘I don’t feel like myself’ line really sold it.”  
  
“I’ll admit, I actually _do_ feel a little more…well, myself now.” Rapunzel said sheepishly.  
  
“You spent eighteen years as a blonde. It’s understandable.” Varian nodded.  
  
\--  
  
Cassandra hummed to herself as she worked on Rapunzel’s coronation dress. It was just about done, it just needed a few more tweaks.  
  
She heard whistling and sighed, looking up at Eugene lurking by her. “What?”  
  
“So…you went to Old Corona? How’s the old place doing?” He asked, taking a bite of an apple.  
  
“I waited outside with Rapunzel while Varian went into his lab. The town itself seemed like any other time I’d been by, only it was at night.” Cassandra replied.  
  
“So, why couldn’t Varian just go there yesterday, or have his dad bring the wig?” Eugene asked. “Why at night?”  
  
“Why not ask him?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“Because the kid is _lying_ to me.” Eugene said firmly. “I may not have known him long, but I’ve known him long enough to recognize his tells. He’s lying, Rapunzel is lying, and _you’re_ keeping their secret. _What_ are they not telling me?”  
  
“I have to work. Go away before I call a guard.” Cassandra threatened.  
  
“…Fine. But I’m not giving up!” He walked out of the room.  
  
Cassandra sighed and shook her head, going back to her humming as she sewed.  
  
\--  
  
“Rapunzel?”  
  
Rapunzel looked up from massaging her feet. How people wore _shoes_ all day would forever baffle her. “Yes?”  
  
Queen Arianna walked over and sat on her bed with her. Rapunzel sheepishly lowered her foot. “Rapunzel, you left so quickly after breakfast that I didn’t get to give you your coronation present.”  
  
“Oh!” Rapunzel smiled. “A present? For me?”  
  
“Of course, it’s for you.” Queen Arianna smiled and handed over a box. “Go ahead, open it now.”  
  
Rapunzel opened the box to see two books inside. “What’s this?” She asked, curiously taking the one on top out and starting to read it.  
  
“‘18th of July... We embarked on a safari to the most remote plains of the third continent.’ ‘21st of May... Had to take shelter in a hidden cave to escape the fury of a violent storm.’ ‘12th of April... Helped villagers rebuild their war-torn homes.’ Mom, is this yours?” Rapunzel looked up at her. “Did you actually _do_ all this?”  
  
“Rapunzel, before I met your father, I was so much like you. I had no idea what I was supposed to have in this world. So, I went out and found my own way.” Arianna confessed, smiling softly. She took the second book and offered it to her. “Your father is right about one thing. You will be queen someday, but only _you_ get to decide what kind of queen you'll be. And _no one_ can tell you the best way to make that decision.”  
  
“But, how _can_ I, if...” She paused. “Wait...Are you suggesting that I should...”  
  
Queen Arianna smiled and brushed a strand of hair behind Rapunzel’s ear. “Honey... find a way to fill those pages. I only ask that you be safe, be smart, and above all... be _true_ to yourself.”  
  
Rapunzel smiled, then opened the book, looking at the inscription inside. “’Plus est en vous’?”  
  
“Plus est en vous. It means, ‘there is more in you’.” Arianna explained.  
  
Rapunzel smiled happily and hugged her.  
  
\--  
  
“Okay…here we go…moment of truth.” Rapunzel said anxiously. “Oh, I’m so nervous…”  
  
“Just don’t trip on your dress and you’ll be fine.” Cassandra assured her.  
  
“I’m not worried bout tripping on the dress. _These_ , though?” She lifted the skirt to look at her shoes. “How do people _walk_ in these?”  
  
“You’ll be okay.” Varian smiled. “I’m going to go find my dad, good luck.”  
  
She nodded and smiled, waving him off.  
  
“Princess, it’s time.” Cassandra told her.  
  
Rapunzel nodded, then turned to the doors. “Okay.” She stepped towards them and guards opened the door as trumpets played to announce her entrance.  
  
“Ohhh….”  
  
“Why is she blonde today?”  
  
“Obviously, it’s a wig.”   
  
“She looks beautiful…”  
  
She caught Eugene’s eye and he gave her an encouraging smile from the crowd. Further on, she saw Varian with his father and smiled at them before looking forward. She noticed the Duchess was watching her progression closely and moved a hand up to fluff her “wig” pointedly, smiling slyly at the woman.  
  
Then she lowered her hand to the other one and kept walking, her gaze on her parents’ loving eyes.  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Duchess leave, with Varian slipping through the crowd after her like a shadow. ‘Be safe, Varian.’ She thought.  
  
\--  
  
“Duchess.”  
  
She stopped short and looked over her shoulder. “Oh. The little boy always trailing Princess Rapunzel.”  
  
“I’m her honorary brother, we were kidnapped together.” He walked over to her. “Varian.” He held out a gloved hand with a smile.  
  
“You already know who I am. And I _don’t_ shake hands with commoners.” She said, turning away from him.  
  
“Actually…I don’t. I know your _title_. I _don’t_ know your _name_.” He moved in front of her again. “So, let’s try it again. I’m Varian, from Old Corona. Honorary brother to Princess Rapunzel. Your turn.”  
  
She rolled her eyes and opened her fan. “This is foolishness.”  
  
“No, I’d say ‘foolishness’ is you sneaking out of the event you came to see. Unless…you had _another_ reason to want to get into the castle?”  
  
She lowered her fan and closed it before walking around and past him again. “You’re missing the event yourself.”  
  
“If it keeps trouble from happening, then it’s worth it.” Varian said coolly.  
  
She sighed and then suddenly swung around with more speed than that dress should allow and slammed a kick into his gut. He fell back with a cry of pain and she hurried away.  
  
“Kch…I don’t think so…” Varian pulled out a knife from his boot and followed her, his eyes glowing slightly.  
  
\--  
  
He tracked her to the castle dungeon, where he found the guard unconscious. After kneeling to make sure they were still breathing, he headed in.  
  
“Meet Lady Caine.”  
  
“You’re a lot stronger than you look.”  
  
He came close enough to see where she was and saw her take off her wig, her red hair falling down her back in a ponytail.  
  
“I'm a lot of things.” She declared smugly.  
  
“Everything but a convincing Duchess.”  
  
She turned to see Varian coming out of hiding, a guard behind him.  
  
“I don’t know, seemed convincing enough to fool the royal family.” Lady Caine taunted him.  
  
“Do you really think that? Why do you think _I’m_ here?” Varian grinned. “While they handle the ceremony, I take care of trouble in the dark.”  
  
“You? You’re only a child.” Lady Caine said as her thugs left the cell.  
  
“I'm gonna need you to step back into that cell, pronto.” The guard said firmly.  
  
“Get ‘em, boys.” Lady Caine smirked and charged at Varian herself. He ducked around her and slashed at her arm, but she dodged him easily and kicked him into the wall.  
  
“Nngh!” Varian groaned. ‘Why doesn’t this stupid outfit have any pockets?’ He thought. ‘Stupid formal occasion clothes. If I had my apron, I’d at least have _some_ kind of alchemy bomb!’  
  
He dodged another kick and swung his leg at her to trip her. She stumbled and then slammed her foot down, which he narrowly rolled away to dodge.  
  
‘Keep your anger in check…we don’t want black rocks in the castle.’ He thought as he dodged another attack. Then he felt a blow hit the back of his head and groaned, falling to his knees.  
  
“Aww.” Lady Caine smirked and tilted his head up with a finger. “Is the little boy too tired to keep fighting? Maybe we should take him up to his sister.” She said in a babying tone. “Sorry, looks like you bit off more than you could chew, here.”  
  
He was roughly tied up and the poor guard that had come in with him was beaten and stripped of his clothes, as well as another guard.  
  
“Go on ahead, secure the perimeter.” Lady Caine told them. “I’ll bring the little ‘honorary prince’ up myself.” She smirked at Varian, who was feeling too dazed by the blow to fight back.  
  
Pascal looked out from where he’d hidden when he got knocked off of Varian’s shirt during the battle and hurried upstairs to find help.  
  
\--  
  
“The wearer of this crown is a shining example of the promise that is Corona, an ambassador of goodwill to those visiting from afar, and an inspiration to those fortunate enough to live within her borders.” The priest said, holding the crown. “But above all, the chief responsibility of the crown is to keep the people of Corona safe from dangers, near and far.”  
  
Cassandra gasped as she saw Pascal skittering up to her. “Pascal?” She knelt down and picked him up. “Weren’t you with Varian?” She asked quietly.  
  
“And there are many. This mandate is not to be taken lightly.” The priest went on.  
  
Pascal frantically pointed and Cassandra looked towards Rapunzel before she looked around and realized that some guards were looking different. In fact, some of them matched the faces of ruffians captured today. ‘Oh no.’ She thought, really worried for the boy now.  
  
The priest went on. “There will come a day when the walls that surround Corona are threatened by malfeasance. A day...”  
  
“Attention, please!” A woman’s voice cut into the proceedings.  
  
Everyone looked over as the doors burst open and ruffians filled the hall, a red-haired woman roughly making Varian walk with her.  
  
“Lady Caine?!” Eugene cried in disbelief.  
  
“Varian!” Rapunzel growled. “Let him go!”  
  
“Not a chance, _sister_.” Lady Caine smirked. The guests started to run for the exits, but they were all blocked by ruffians. “Your tiny little _knight_ here tried to stop me, but I easily handled him. And now, I’ll deal with the rest of you.”  
  
King Fredric and Queen Arianna were forced to the front of the room, as well as a few other important figures. Rapunzel herself was roughly handled and pushed along to stand with her father while the other guests were surrounded.  
  
“Release my guests immediately!” King Fredric ordered.  
  
“What's the matter, Fred? Am I ruining your little girl's perfect day?” She said as she walked closer to them, pushing Varian along in front of her.  
  
Rapunzel’s eyes widened as she recognized her. “The Duchess? We were _right_ , you _were_ hiding your identity!”  
  
“Well, it’s nice to know that the dear little princess has a brain. Or, is it _this_ one that noticed?” She roughly shook Varian and he groaned, shaking his head to try to shake away the daze. “This is all your fault, you know.”  
  
“My fault?” Rapunzel frowned. “I don’t understand.”  
  
“You see, after your untimely disappearance, your father locked up every criminal in the kingdom, including a simple petty thief.” She sighed. “My father... I saw him thrown into a cage and hauled off like some animal, never to be seen again. So, I thought I'd come back and return the favor.”  
  
Speaking of father, Cassandra wondered, where was Varian’s father?  
  
A prison cart came into the building.  
  
“Ah, finally. Load ‘em up, boys.” Lady Caine smirked.  
  
Before they could, the driver was yanked off and let out a strangled groan.  
  
“What?” Lady Caine frowned.  
  
“Unhand. My. Son.” Quirin stepped into view and dropped the unconscious driver on the ground, holding his sword. “This ends now.”  
  
“Take him down!” Lady Caine yelled.  
  
Rapunzel slammed her head into the guy holding her and he groaned, stumbling back. Then she threw a kick and Cassandra and Eugene moved to action, starting to fight the ruffians.  
  
“STOP!” Lady Caine held a knife at Varian’s throat and they all froze. “Make another move and he dies!”  
  
Varian’s dazed expression shifted into one of anger and his eyes started to glow, along with his hair. Lady Caine looked at him confused, then yelped and dropped him when a black rock suddenly shot out of the floor and almost stabbed her, cutting his binds in the process.  
  
“What the—”  
  
“DUCK!” Eugene yelled, and Varian ducked low before Eugene slammed a punch into her face. “I don’t normally like to hit a woman, but you deserve it!”  
  
“Varian, are you alright?” Rapunzel pulled him close to her and looked him over. “What did she _do_ to you?”  
  
“Fought me. I lost.” Varian shrugged helplessly.  
  
“You just stay low.” She stood up, kicked off her shoes and reached back to untie her hair.  
  
“Rapunzel, no!” He grabbed her skirt. “There’s enough fighters!”  
  
Rapunzel looked around. Cassandra and Eugene were having trouble, even Quirin was being overwhelmed by the mass number of people. She pulled her hair free as Eugene was hit hard by Lady Caine and fell the ground with a weak groan. “I have to.”  
  
Varian sighed. “…Okay.”  
  
Rapunzel let out a cry of rage and swung her hair out, lassoing it around Lady Caine and slamming her into the nearest wall. Then she pulled it free and used her hair to attack others, while Lady Caine was in a confused daze.  
  
“Glowing boys and hair that’s strong enough to grapple…what?!” Lady Caine groaned.  
  
“Rapunzel?!” King Fredric cried in confusion.  
  
“We’ll talk later!” She slammed another ruffian into Lady Caine, seeing her recovering.  
  
Varian got up and walked over to tie up the dazed woman. “Sorry, looks like you bit off more than you could chew here.”  
  
She glared at him. “What the hell was that glowing?”  
  
He blinked. “You…don’t know?”  
  
“Uh, no!” She struggled with her binds and he sat on her back. “Ngh!”  
  
“Huh. Usually people know me on sight, I didn’t realize that some people might not recognize me.” He said thoughtfully. “Guess the Stabbingtons didn’t talk as much as we thought.”  
  
“I’ve been in hiding.” She scowled. “Will you stop it with the mind games and tell me?”  
  
Varian looked up as the sounds of fighting stopped.  
  
“And that’s all of them.” Rapunzel said with relief.  
  
Quirin ran over and picked Varian up. “Are you alright, did they hurt you?”  
  
“Meh, nothing that won’t heal in, like, a day. I put up a pretty good fight.” He assured him. “Worst hit was her slamming me into a wall.”  
  
“Let’s get these criminals into prison. And then you and I, Rapunzel, need to have a _talk_.” King Fredric said sternly. “You as well, Varian.”  
  
“Yeah, can I come, too?” Eugene held his hand up.  
  
Cassandra groaned. “Well…so much for my position.” She muttered as the guards came in to take the prisoners away.

\--

After making sure the guests were all safe and well and then seeing them out, King Fredric walked over and sat on his throne, staring at the black rock that was now a permanent fixture of his throne room.  
  
“Uhm…sorry…about this.” Varian said awkwardly, placing his hand on it.  
  
“Why did you lie to me?” King Fredric asked calmly.  
  
Rapunzel rubbed her arm awkwardly. “We…didn’t want to worry you.”  
  
“How did this _happen_?” The King reached up to rub his temple.  
  
Varian sighed and stepped forward. “The Moonstone Opal in the Dark Kingdom is sending black rocks into Corona. We went out last night to investigate them in secret and it made her hair grow long and indestructible.”  
  
“Varian, why would you do such a thing without telling us?” Eugene asked with concern. “Rapunzel?” He looked at her.  
  
“It wasn’t that we _wanted_ to. Varian was feeling strange, and he…he _needed_ to go. The rocks were calling to him, and so I went with him to find out what was going on.” Rapunzel explained. “We didn’t know that it would have this _effect_ on me.” She grasped some of her long hair.  
  
“But, if your hair is long again…does that mean your powers have returned, as well?” Queen Arianna asked with concern.  
  
“We haven’t tested it yet.” Varian admitted. “We didn’t have time, with the coronation.” He looked at Rapunzel. “Why don’t we test it now?”  
  
“Oh, right.” Rapunzel nodded and wrapped her hair around him.  
  
Cassandra watched them curiously, wondering what they were doing.  
  
“Okay, so…if I have powers, for those that don’t know, then there should be some glowing and healing. Let’s start.” She started to sing.  
  
“ _Flower, gleam and glow.  
Let your power shine.  
Make the clock reverse,  
Bring back what once was mine.  
What once was mine._”  
  
Varian looked down at it. “Oh, look. No glowing, no healing.”  
  
King Fredric looked relieved. “Still, I cannot just let this go unpunished. You snuck out past the patrols somehow and…and where did you even _see_ these rocks?!”  
  
“Out by Old Corona.” Quirin spoke up. “Most of us just assumed they were Varian’s, but if they aren’t…”  
  
“Trust me, not mine. Too big.” He looked at the new black rock in the throne room. “This thing is only _half_ the size of those.”  
  
King Fredric sighed. “Any chance you can remove this thing?”  
  
“Unfortunately, Your Majesty, I can only create them by my emotions.” Varian reminded him.  
  
“…We’ll find a way to make it less…obvious.” King Fredric pursed his lips. “Quirin, you _knew_ they were doing this?”  
  
“I was there when they did it.” Quirin nodded “I assumed they would tell you once things calmed down, and so didn’t say anything myself.”  
  
King Fredric sighed. “Take…take your son home. Rapunzel, go to your room. We will discuss your punishment for sneaking out of the castle tomorrow.”  
  
Quirin nodded and led Varian out. Rapunzel smiled and took his hand, squeezing it gently before they separated.  
  
“Come on, Princess.” Cassandra said, leading Rapunzel out of the throne room. Once they were in her room, she walked over to look out the window, where they could see Quirin and Varian leaving together on a cart. “Why did he take all the blame on himself?”  
  
“He sees it as _his_ problem.” Rapunzel sighed. “And he doesn’t want to get us in trouble. He’s a good kid…just…he was forced to grow up _much_ too fast.”  
  
Cassandra closed the window and turned to her. “Will he get in trouble, though?”  
  
“His father won’t punish him for trying to understand his powers.” Rapunzel sighed and held Pascal close. “I hope…”  
  
There was a knock on the door and Eugene poked his head in. “Room service?” He held up a plate with a cupcake.  
  
“Eugene.” Rapunzel smiled softly.  
  
He walked over and handed the treat to her. “Look…I get that you wanted to hide the truth from your dad. Why hide it from _me_ , though?”  
  
“I guess…” Rapunzel sighed. “I wasn’t sure how you’d react.”  
  
“And it wasn’t Quirin with you, was it?” Eugene looked at Cassandra.  
  
“No.” Rapunzel shook her head. “Truthfully…we went out to get some space, to just…breathe. Varian didn’t start reacting to the rocks until we were close to them, we found them by chance.”  
  
Eugene nodded. “Rapunzel…about my proposal…”  
  
“I’m sorry, Eugene. It’s…it’s too soon.” Rapunzel said taking his hand in hers. “I need time. Can you give me that?”  
  
Eugene smiled and leaned in to gently kiss her. “All the time you need. I’ll be here whenever you’re ready.”  
  
Rapunzel smiled and returned the kiss. “Thank you.”  
  
Cassandra sighed. “Don’t tell _anyone_ it was me, alright?”  
  
“Secret’s safe with me.” Eugene assured her.  
  
“It better be.” She walked over to the door. “I’ll be out here. You have five more minutes to be mushy before I kick you out.”  
  
They laughed and hugged each other, kissing again.  
  
Cassandra sighed and left, closing the door behind her.  
  
\--  
  
Varian reached out and placed his hand on the large black rock that was jutting through the wall outside Old Corona. “How long…?”  
  
“A day.” Quirin placed his hand on Varian’s shoulder. “It appeared while you were with the princess. I didn’t want to worry you, so I didn’t say anything.”  
  
Varian closed his eyes. “The moon is calling…The _Moonstone_ is calling…” He clutched at his chest. “It wants to be _whole_ …one way or the other.”  
  
Quirin knelt behind him and pulled him close. “I won’t let it take you from me.” He said, holding him tighter. “I won’t let it take you.”  
  
Varian leaned into his hold. “…We can’t tell Rapunzel.”  
  
Quirin nodded.  
  
“What if they don’t stop?” Varian’s voice was shaking now. “They chased us all the way to the bridge…my _own_ rocks weren’t strong enough…and I can’t _control_ them.”  
  
“We’ll figure it out.” Quirin promised him. “But…we don’t tell _anyone_ the truth.” He looked at the black rock. “Because they’re _sure_ to sacrifice you, if they knew.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can Varian stop the black rocks before they destroy everything he loves to force him to come to the Moonstone?


	4. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian buries himself in his studies of the black rocks, until his father takes him back to Corona for a distraction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

As punishment for their little nighttime trip out into the woods, Varian and Rapunzel were kept apart for a month. Cassandra took pity on them and lent Rapunzel her Owl so they could send messages back and forth to keep in contact.  
  
“Oh, listen to this, Cass!” Rapunzel said as she read one of Varian’s messages. “Varian says that he’s studying the rocks using alchemy, since his powers aren’t getting rid of them. Also, he misses you. Awww.” She giggled. “I think he’s got a _crush_.”  
  
Cassandra rolled her eyes as she folded Rapunzel’s laundry.  
  
“Apparently, there are more rocks now. They’ve expanded to be all along the wall, he says. He’s keeping a close eye on their progress.” She turned and started to write out her reply. “Too bad he’s going to miss the gopher festival today.”  
  
\--  
  
Varian sighed and pulled up his goggles. “Okay…so, _that_ didn’t work.” He said, sitting down and looking up at one of black-rock spikes that bordered the kingdom like an extra wall. ‘If it wasn’t in fact, an _invasion_ , that might not be so bad.’ He thought, pursing his lips. ‘How do I stop it?’ He stood up and ran his hands through his bangs before he walked back home.  
  
Quirin looked up as he came in. “Any luck?”  
  
Varian shook his head. “No. Not even a dent.” He walked over and sat at the table, staring at his gloves. “…Do you think…mom would be able to stop them?”  
  
“Your mother was a great alchemist, Varian, but she wasn’t a goddess.” Quirin smiled wryly.  
  
“What about her partner? Maybe she could help—”  
  
“No!” Quirin snapped, and Varian flinched back. “…I’m sorry, Varian.”  
  
“No, I…I should’ve never mentioned her.” Varian wrapped his arms around himself. “I’m just…so _scared_.”  
  
“With the Sundrop Flower no longer standing vigil to keep the darkness away, the Moonstone will cover this continent in black rocks.” Quirin said grimly. “I told King Fredric this before…but, he decided it was worth the risk for his family.”  
  
“Would you?” Varian asked.  
  
Quirin looked at him, startled by the question. “…Yes.” He admitted, looking back down at his hands. “I would.”  
  
\--  
  
“Apparently, Rapunzel somehow got Uncle Monty to hate her.” Varian said as he read a letter from Rapunzel full of drawings of her being distressed. “She’s asking my advice.” He laughed. “Does she _know_ how many people don’t like me? She should, by now.” He shook his head and wrote a reply.  
  
“How many?” Quirin asked as he stirred their food.  
  
“Let’s start with everyone in Old Corona. Then there’s every criminal I’ve ever faced, besides Eugene, I think that Nigel guy has a problem with me and most of the guards in Corona are either scared of me or just don’t trust me. Oh, and I’m pretty sure Gothel _hated_ me up until she died.” Varian laughed a bit. “How am I supposed to tell her how to get someone to not hate her?”  
  
“That’s…not a _good_ thing, Varian.”  
  
“Meh, my life sucks and I cope with it by laughing through my pain.” Varian got up and brought the message he just wrote to Owl. “Good luck to her, though. I don’t know why anyone would hate her. She’s the embodiment of sunshine.” He said as Owl flew off. “And me?” He looked at the black rocks still in his home from his childhood tantrums. Little, just like he was. “I’m the darkness.”  
  
Quirin pursed his lips grimly.  
  
\--  
  
Every day was another adventure for Rapunzel. She wrote to him constantly, and he always stopped working to read them and write a reply before going back to his work. He finished writing the message and set it off before running his hands over his face.  
  
Sleep had been a rare thing lately. The Moonstone was loud, and it kept taking forms of people that had hurt him, people that had captured him, claimed him. And sometimes it just took the form of another him, and every time it tried to entice him into giving in, to going to the Dark Kingdom.  
  
One way or the other, it would be _whole_ , it told him. A piece long ago lost, due to the selfishness of a King that sought to destroy them—it.  
  
He woke up in a cold sweat every night, always with the feeling of hands around his neck, of arms around his body, and he threw off his blanket and fled to his father every time.  
  
Every day, the black rocks grew closer and closer.  
  
“Varian?” Quirin cleared his throat, catching his attention. “It’s been about a month. Do you want to take a break and go to the castle?”  
  
“Has it been that long?” He lowered his hand. “It’s been a whole _month_ already?”   
  
He supposed that added up. Rapunzel sent him a letter every day, and he had a little over thirty neatly rolled up and stacked on a shelf.  
  
“Come on, you need the break.” Quirin gently coaxed him away from his lab. “I’ll take you to the Capital of Corona.”  
  
“Wait…let me, uhm, wash up and get changed, first.” Varian said, and Quirin nodded before letting him go to his room.  
  
\--  
  
“Varian!” Rapunzel happily greeted him when he got down from his father’s cart.  
  
“Hey.” He waved and she threw her arms around him in a tight hug. “Oof, sis, too tight.”  
  
Rapunzel looked him over. “You feel like you’ve lost weight. Have you been eating? Has he been eating? Or sleeping?” She looked at Quirin.  
  
“Night terrors.” Quirin explained.  
  
“About what?” Rapunzel’s brow furrowed.  
  
“Uh, the…the Stabbingtons.” Varian said nervously.  
  
“Yeah, yikes, me too.” Rapunzel nodded.  
  
“Among…others.” Varian clutched at his arms, glancing away.  
  
“Varian, you’re just in time. There’s a science expo coming up soon and I just _know_ you’d love to be a part of it.” Rapunzel said excitedly.  
  
“Well, look what the moon waxed in.” Cassandra remarked, walking up to them. “Haven’t seen you since Rapunzel’s Coronation. We expected you back a week ago.”  
  
“I’ve been…busy.” Varian pursed his lips.  
  
“But he’s here to get a _break_ so, please, distract him.” Quirin said, getting back in his cart. “Varian, I’ll pick up where you left off based on your notes. Do you want me to bring anything?”  
  
Varian sighed. “Nothing I can think of right now. I’ll send Owl if I need anything.” He looked at Cassandra. “Is that okay?”  
  
“Please, go ahead.” Cassandra assured him.  
  
“Come on, Varian.” Rapunzel smiled and led him along into the castle. “I bet mom and dad have been worried about you!”  
  
“I send letters to you every day!” He reminded her.  
  
“Yyyyeah…but, they don’t exactly _know_ that.” Rapunzel said sheepishly.  
  
“Ohhh.” He chuckled a bit. “Okay.”  
  
They entered the throne room and Varian glanced at the black rock he’d left there during the coronation battle, which was apparently being used to display a sign that said “stop here to speak to the King”.  
  
“That was my idea.” Rapunzel whispered to him.  
  
“Varian!” Queen Arianna looked relieved to see him and she opened her arms. He smiled and ran over to give her the hug she wanted.  
  
“We were concerned when you did not come back after a month.” King Fredric said gently. “I was on the verge of sending a messenger to check on you.”  
  
“I’ve been studying the black rocks, trying to find a way to remove them with alchemy.” He looked at the rock he’d left and held out a hand, focusing, before he lowered his hand. “Since I can’t control it still.”  
  
“What’s the situation like there?” King Fredric asked.  
  
Varian’s expression grew grim. “Black rocks run all along the Wall of Corona and they’re starting to move further in. Old Corona may have to evacuate soon.”  
  
“We’ll send all the help we can.” King Fredric promised.  
  
“Thank you.” Varian nodded. “My father wants me to ‘take a break’, for a little while, so is it alright if I’m here for a few days?”  
  
“Varian, you can stay as long as you need to.” Queen Arianna assured him with a smile.  
  
He smiled. “Thank you.”  
  
“Now, why don’t you and Rapunzel go spend time together? It’s almost time for audiences.” King Fredric nodded.  
  
Varian nodded and headed out with Rapunzel.  
  
\--  
  
“So, have you just been having festival after festival in this city?” Varian asked as he looked through Rapunzel’s journal.  
  
“Uhm…yeah.” She smiled sheepishly. “I guess…they like to party.”  
  
“Clearly.” He closed the book. “Has he told the people about the black rocks yet?”  
  
“The only black rocks the people of the city know of are…yours.” Rapunzel shook her head.  
  
“Gah! They need to pay attention!” Varian got up and started to pace. “The Moonstone is sending black rocks and it won’t stop until it gets…” He held his head and groaned, slumping to his knees.  
  
“Varian!” Rapunzel got up and helped him to his feet. “Are you okay?”  
  
“I…” He faltered. “I’m just…tired. Been so focused…and the nightmares, you know?”  
  
“Varian…” He tensed. “What are you hiding from me?”  
  
He hung his head. “…Me.”  
  
“What?” She frowned.  
  
“The Moonstone wants… _me_.” He sniffled. “It wants to be _whole_ , one way or the other. Either _I_ absorb _it_ …or _it_ absorbs _me_.”  
  
Rapunzel’s eyes widened. “By the Sun…”  
  
“Every night, it takes a different form to try to entice me or frighten me into doing what it wants.” Varian held his head.  
  
“What does it want?” Rapunzel gently took his hands.  
  
“It wants me to go to the Dark Kingdom and join it.” Varian looked at her. “I-I’m scared…I don’t want to…what if it…”  
  
“I won’t let that happen!” Rapunzel held him close, burying her face in her hair. “I won’t! I’ll fight it myself!”  
  
He sighed. “Yeah…that’s what dad said, too. Then we started studying the black rocks together, until he sent me here.”  
  
Rapunzel smiled and cupped his cheek. “He’s probably trying to get your mind off it. Let’s do what he wants and do something fun. Wanna go check out the location for the science expo?”  
  
“Sure, but I don’t know if I’ll be entering this late in the game.” Varian chuckled a bit. “I didn’t even know it was coming up.”  
  
“You’ve been working so hard.” She kissed his cheek. “Let’s go bother Eugene.”  
  
He laughed. “What about Cassandra?”  
  
“Oh, naturally!” She giggled and they left her room together.  
  
\--  
  
To Rapunzel’s relief, it wasn’t hard to distract Varian, especially when Eugene decided to try to entertain him by showing him a card trick that he took great pleasure in picking apart. Despite the bags under his eyes, she could see he was still the same boy that sassed Gothel when they were growing up.  
  
Varian decided the best way to stop an argument between Cassandra and Eugene was to sneakily drop a goo bomb on them from a tree above them. The chorus of “VARIAN!” he got for his efforts was enough to nearly send him falling from the tree laughing, if Rapunzel didn’t catch him before he did.  
  
“I’m pretty sure,” Eugene said as he was freed, “that I have _told_ you that that stuff is bad for my hair.”  
  
“Oh, relax. Once dissolved, there isn’t a single trace left.” Varian rolled his eyes and smirked. “Ergo, it’s all in your head.”  
  
“Right. Well, that certainly ended our _conversation_. I have…duties to attend to.” Cassandra stepped away from the goo that she was freed from and checked herself over. “It’s nice to see that you’ve fully recovered from ‘Lady Caine’ kicking your ass.” She teased him.  
  
“Meh.” He shrugged. “That happened quickly enough.”  
  
“Varian.”  
  
Varian looked over in surprise. “Dad!” He ran over to him. “I thought you would be gone longer!”  
  
“I found _this_ in your lab.” Quirin pulled a squirming raccoon out of a bag. “I considered just letting it free, but I’ve seen you sneaking food to it when you think I’m not looking.”  
  
Varian blushed. “I call him ‘Ruddiger’. I wasn’t sure if you’d approve…”  
  
“Have your pet.” He handed him over. “I’m going back now, you be good, alright?” He rubbed his head and smiled. “Don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of this.”  
  
Varian nodded, holding Ruddiger close. “I’ll be waiting for news.”  
  
Quirin hugged him and then walked back to his cart and set off again. Varian waved as he watched him go, then stroked Ruddiger’s fur, his brow furrowed.  
  
“Hey, you okay?” Cassandra walked over and gently placed her hand on his shoulder.  
  
“Oh, uhm, yeah. He just brought me my pet.” He smiled. “This is Ruddiger.”  
  
“You have a pet raccoon?” Cassandra chuckled. “Well, I’ll have to let Owl know that this one is off-limits, then.”  
  
“Aww!” Rapunzel reached out her arms and Varian handed the racoon over. “He’s so cute!”  
  
Varian smiled, then looked where his dad went. Rapunzel’s brow furrowed and she looked at Cassandra.  
  
“Hey, why don’t you go take him to get some candy?” Cassandra suggested.  
  
“Sure, I’m sure there’s _somewhere_ we can get candy besides that one particular shop!” Rapunzel said with a strained smile.  
  
Varian raised an eyebrow. “You’re still having your whole argument with Uncle Monty because of that seal?”  
  
“We’ve made peace with our mutual dislike.” Rapunzel said with a forced smile.   
  
Varian laughed. “Okay, sis. Let’s go see Uncle Monty.”  
  
“Wait, what? Why?” She asked as he took her hand and pulled her out to town. Cassandra waved them off with an amused smile.  
  
“I’m going to see if I can fix this. I swear, I leave you alone for a month, and you make yourself an enemy. What would you do without me?”  
  
She laughed a bit. “Okay, little brother. Work your magic.”  
  


\--  
  
“What do _you_ want?” Uncle Monty demanded as she stepped into his shop.  
  
“Varian wanted some of your candy.” Rapunzel gestured to him as Varian walked past her to look at the display.  
  
“Hmm…” Varian looked thoughtful. “Hmm…”  
  
“As indecisive as ever, eh?” Uncle Monty asked him pleasantly.  
  
“No…” He looked at him. “Did you change the design of these cookies?”  
  
“What? Uh, yeah. Last week.” Uncle Monty nodded.  
  
“Why? They were perfectly good before.” Varian raised an eyebrow.  
  
“I thought people would like the new change. No one _else_ seems to have a problem.” Uncle Monty shrugged.  
  
“Well, _I_ do.” Varian crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
Rapunzel’s eyes widened and she covered her mouth as she watched, trying not to laugh.  
  
“What’s the matter, it’s just a color change!” Uncle Monty defended.  
  
“Why change what already works? Sure, it _looks_ good, but it’s not the same as before. Plus, I’m pretty sure the heart in the center is bigger, which _completely_ throws off the whole cookie-to-frosting ratio.” Varian looked back at them with his finger and thumb under his chin and nodded. “Yep. The heart in the center is 2.5% bigger than before. Not even a whole 3%!”  
  
Uncle Monty looked at a loss. “I…”  
  
“But, hey, I can get over it. It’s just a little change, everyone else seems to like it.” Varian sighed, closing his eyes resignedly. “No point in holding a grudge and declaring you my enemy over it.” He opened one eye and gave him a pointed look.  
  
Uncle Monty blinked, looked at the cookie, then looked at Rapunzel and his jaw dropped. “Oh, is THAT what this is about?!”  
  
“Well, _that_ , and the heart size _does_ actually bug me.” Varian admitted, turning to them.  
  
“Before you assume anything, she didn’t ask me to do this. I just heard of the situation and thought it was silly.” Varian crossed his arms over his chest. “Life is too short to make enemies over little things. Try living in a tower for a few years, you’ll find it gives you perspective.”  
  
Uncle Monty looked uncomfortable, then sighed and turned to Rapunzel. “I guess…I can _try_ to be friendly to you.”  
  
“Well, it’s a start.” She held out her hand. “Not-enemies?”  
  
“Not-enemies.” He shook her hand.  
  
Varian looked back at the cookies. “Anyways, I’ve decided I want one of these altered cookies.”  
  
Rapunzel laughed ad Uncle Monty walked over to get it for him.  
  
Varian smiled, feeling a bit more at ease. It was nice actually _accomplishing_ something for once. Rapunzel picked out some candy for herself and then they left with their goodies.  
  
“Okay, what do you want to do next?” Rapunzel asked as they walked down the street.  
  
Varian shrugged. “So…is it true that Eugene is teaching the Royal Guard how to catch criminals, or were you pulling my leg?”   
  
“Oh, it’s true. In fact, they might be in the middle of a lesson right now. Come on!” She pulled him along, giggling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Life's too short to make enemies with the guy that makes you candy.


	5. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a science expo coming up and Cassandra had to help prepare for it. Varian decides to assist her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

It was nice having Varian back in Corona. Cassandra had noticed that Rapunzel seemed to be skipping with a lighter step now that her little shadow was around. Sure, she had Pascal, but there were some things Varian could do for her that the lizard couldn’t.  
  
Such as helping her style her hair in really weird ways. Cassandra internally groaned as she thought about having to help her undo the many braided buns before she tucked her into bed tonight.  
  
“Do we have enough pins?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“Don’t worry, I checked the number and calculated based on the volume of your hair how many I would need and we have exactly the number I need for this.” Varian assured her.  
  
She giggled. “What are you doing, anyway?”  
  
Her eyes were closed and she had her hands up to cover them for good measure. Cassandra sighed as she watched the boy make her look like her chameleon with the hairstyle.  
  
“Need any help?” She called.  
  
“Nope, I got it!” Varian assured her.  
  
“Well, do you think you’ll be done by dinner?” Cassandra smirked.  
  
Varian checked the clock. “Yeah, should be.” He went back to work. “Don’t worry, we won’t be late.”  
  
“Raps, are you really going to dinner with whatever style he picks for you?” Cassandra raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Of course I am! I trust his judgement.” She said cheerfully.  
  
‘I wouldn’t.’ Cassandra thought. Then again, Varian and Rapunzel were two bratty peas in a pod, on opposite sides of the spectrum. Rapunzel was a brat that caused trouble trying to be too nice. Varian was a brat who sought enjoyment out of chaotically shifting situations to be slightly less pleasant.  
  
At least his pranks were more interesting, even if Rapunzel’s were, uh, unpredictable but nice.  
  
She also found that every time she and Eugene would start arguing, they would end up encased in goo. She would have to inspect his pockets sometime and find out just how many of those bombs he was carrying around. As a result, she either dumbed it down, or made sure they were actually _alone_ before she started to sass the ex-thief.  
  
Sweet kid, but the goo was _really_ unpleasant.  
  
“There!” Varian stepped back with a grin.  
  
Rapunzel opened her eyes and gasped. “Ohh, it’s so cute! Cassandra, look, it’s so cute!”  
  
“Yeah, great.” Cassandra smiled. “You’re gonna wear that to dinner?”  
  
“Absolutely.” Rapunzel headed for the door. “Come on, Varian, Cass!”  
  
Cassandra shrugged and followed her out with Varian, who quickly took up his place as her shadow. In fact, she noticed, it didn’t take long for him to change out of his Old Corona outfit and instead wear a blue and black outfit not too different, but less stuffy, to his coronation outfit, giving him the look of really being a shadow from a distance.  
  
Especially with that hair in his face. She considered asking him if he wanted it pinned back, then remembered that all the pins were in Rapunzel’s hair. Any of her hair that wasn’t in a braided bun was in a normal braid.   
  
“Wow, your hair looks amazing, sunshine!” Eugene called as she passed by him.  
  
“Thanks! Varian did it.” She grinned at him.  
  
Varian smiled and took her hand in his gloved one. Cassandra couldn’t help but notice that the kid was _constantly_ wearing gloves and, when he wasn’t in formal wear, he always wore the same leather goggles. She wondered if he was hiding something or if it was a security blanket.  
  
Maybe a little of both.  
  
\--  
  
She decided to bring it up to Rapunzel while Varian was distracted talk to the King and Queen about something after dinner, with Eugene giving his input on the story and getting a good-natured “Heeey, you weren’t even THERE!” from the kid.  
  
“Hey, uh, Raps?” Cassandra said quietly.  
  
“Yes, Cass?” She looked away from her rambling “brother” with a smile.  
  
“What’s the deal with the gloves?” Cassandra gestured to him.  
  
“Uhm…You know, I never asked. He had them when he first came to the tower and he only took them off to wash up or go to bed.” Rapunzel shrugged. “Oh, but I do know that the gloves were his mom’s. Maybe that’s why.”  
  
“Yeah, but he insisted on gloves for his formal wear, too.” Cassandra reminded her.  
  
“Mm…” She looked at Varian. “Hey, Varian?”  
  
“Huh?” He looked up mid-sentence. “What?”  
  
“Cass wants to know why you’re always wearing gloves.” Rapunzel said, while Cassandra internally groaned.  
  
“Oh. I just don’t feel right with my hands exposed, that’s all.” He turned back to his conversation. “Anyways,”  
  
“So he says.” Rapunzel smiled. “If you want to know about him, you can just ask.”  
  
Cassandra sighed. “Right. I’ll…remember that.” She looked at Rapunzel’s…interesting hairstyle, which everyone at dinner seemed to just accept as a thing now. “I just didn’t want to interrupt him.”  
  
Rapunzel giggled. “Well, now you know!”  
  
\--  
  
It was easy enough to pretend like nothing was wrong in front of Cassandra and Eugene and Rapunzel’s parents, but Varian was honestly feeling like screaming in a pillow. Every moment that he spent away from his research, from the black rocks, was frustrating him. And the fact that he’d moved himself meant that they would likely come after him, and he didn’t want any—any MORE black rocks in Corona Capital.   
  
Rapunzel gave him a spot in the castle to set up an alchemy workshop, and Xavier, the blacksmith in town, was kind enough to help him get what he needed for it. While it wasn’t his mother’s alchemy set, it was good enough for him to start working on something and occupy his mind.  
  
The science expo was coming up, he remembered. He wasn’t sure what to make for it, though. It had to be something impressive, he wouldn’t settle for any less. Everyone else would be thinking of tools, he needed something fascinating and new.  
  
Maybe a new element? He tapped his finger on his cheek thoughtfully as he sat at his desk, a pencil in one hand and paper in front of him.  
  
“Hey, kid.” Cassandra poked her head into the lab and he looked up and waved. “How you doing? Rapunzel asked me to check in on you.”  
  
“Meh. Thinking.” He shrugged. “That expo is coming up in, what three days?”  
  
“I thought you weren’t planning to enter?” She smirked, leaning against his door.  
  
“It’s a good distraction.” He started drawing a blueprint.  
  
Cassandra walked over and leaned over him to look at what he was doing. “Distraction from what? The black rocks?”  
  
“Mm.” He nodded. “I’ve been doing nothing but for a while now.”  
  
“Yeah, we noticed. You came back a week late.” Cassandra noticed he had a bit of hair caught in his goggles and got it loose for him. “You look like you haven’t slept.”  
  
“Night terrors.” He shrugged, then looked up at her. “Uhm…can you back up, please?”  
  
“Oh, right.” She stepped back.  
  
“Thank you.” He looked back at his work. “Don’t worry, I’ll show you what I’m working on when it’s done. I’ll be doing this for a while.”  
  
Cassandra smiled and headed for the door. “See you later, then.”  
  
She started to head out, then paused, hearing him singing softly to himself.  
  
“ _Crescent high above,  
Evolving as you go.  
Raise what lies beneath,  
And there’s something about darkness here._”  
  
She chuckled a bit and walked on.  
  
\--  
  
The science expo crept ever closer, with Varian only coming out of his little workshop to eat or sleep at Rapunzel’s urging.  
  
“If I don’t get him out of it, he’ll work right through the meal.” She said once when Eugene asked why not just wait for him to come out on his own.  
  
Finally, the day of the expo arrived. Cassandra was helping set up when she heard someone clear their throat behind her. Smiling a bit, she looked over and saw Varian leaning against a table she just finished working on. “Oh, hey, you’re out of the cave.”  
  
“Hah.” He smirked. “I finished it.”  
  
“Yeah?” She looked back to the banner she was hanging up. “Can I see it?”  
  
“Mmm, not yet.” He shook his head. “You’ll like it, though.”  
  
“Will I?” She hummed.  
  
“Uh-huh.” He nodded. “Need any help here?”  
  
“Well, I _could_ use the help.” She said thoughtfully. “Owl’s only able to do so much.” She climbed down and turned to him. “Doesn’t Rapunzel need you, th—”  
  
“Cassandra!” Stan the Guard ran up to her. “I thought you should know, the Captain is short on guards for the expo. This could be your big chance!”  
  
Cassandra gasped, her eyes lighting up. “Varian, could you—”  
  
“I got it.” Varian assured her, and she ran off with Stan while Varian went to go and retie the banner so it was more straight. Ruddiger let out an appreciative chirrup from his shoulder and he rubbed his head before climbing down.  
  
“Cassandra! Lookin' good! You should see some of the inventions on display! Look at these crazy goggles!” Rapunzel said, running up to him with Eugene behind her. Then she paused and adjusted them before lifting them off her eyes. “Oh, hey, Varian! Where’s Cass?”  
  
“I guess her dad wanted to see her for something?” Varian shrugged. “I offered to help her set up.”  
  
“Well, that’s really nice of you.” She smiled.  
  
“Rapunzel,” he raised an eyebrow. “Did you take someone’s invention and run off with it?” He pointed to the goggles.  
  
She blinked, looked at them guiltily, then ran off to go return them.  
  
Eugene chuckled, watching her go. “So, you entering this year?”  
  
“Yeah, I built something.” He grinned. “I need an assistant, though. Think you could help out?”  
  
“What do you need me to do?” Eugene asked.  
  
“Oh, just announce me and lift a bag when I tell you to.” Varian shrugged. “Nothing big. I mean, I guess I could manage _without_ one, but it’d be better to _have_ one because the lever is on the opposite side of the—”  
  
“Say no more, big brother Eugene will help.” Eugene grinned and nudged him. “Show me what you made?”  
  
“You’ll find out when it’s time. For now, I have to see what’s next to set up.” Varian smiled and went to go look for Cassandra.  
  
\--  
  
“We've talked about this, Cassandra. I just don't know that you're ready.” Varian heard the Captain talking and stopped next to the door to listen in silently.  
  


“Dad, I've been training with the guards since I was six. I know castle procedures and protocol better than anyone, so if there's any _other_ reason why you feel I'm not ready, _besides_ me being your daughter, I'm all ears.”  
  
“Very well. But…”  
  
“There’s always a ‘but’.”  
  
“Your lady-in-waiting duties come first. Only after you've finished those _, including_ setting up for the expo, may you help. Are we clear?”  
  
“Crystal.”  
  
He heard Cassandra groan and then she left the room, stopping short when she saw him outside the door.  
  
He held out a hand with a smile. “I did say I’d help. Let me see that list.”  
  
She chuckled a bit. “Okay.” She handed it over.  
  
“If we split this list 50/50, then we should have no problem with you getting it all done before the expo.” He smiled up at her.  
  
“You were listening?” She raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Didn’t you know? I’m her sneaky little shadow that listens in on everyone.” Varian winked and headed off.  
  
Cassandra stared after him, probably wondering what _else_ he’d been hearing, and followed after him.  
  
\--  
  
“Oh man, I should bring Varian out here to look at these!” Rapunzel said with delight as she went from invention to invention. “Ohh, that makes flipping flapjacks look like a piece of cake! Or should I say pancake?” She said, grinning at Eugene.  
  
“I wouldn’t.” He said as they left behind the woman using a bike-powered mechanism to flip her flapjacks.  
  
“Ladies and gentlemen, forget everything you know about spring-loaded stilts!” Someone said, but she just ran on by.  
  
“Attention, science lovers! I am the one and only Fernanda Pizazzo!” A woman declared, and people cheered. “Yes. Thank you, thank you. You may ask yourselves what revolutionabilly, stupendimonious invention lies behind this veil? You're about to find out when revered master scientist, and handsome morsel, Dr. Alcott St. Croix arrives to name my entry into this contest first prize!”  
  
“Sure, _if_ she can beat Varian.” Rapunzel remarked with a smirk.  
  
“I think she’s got favoritism on her side.” Eugene remarked.  
  
“Trust me, whatever he comes up with will make _hers_ look like last year’s _garbage pile_.” Rapunzel assured him. “My little brother is the best of the best.”  
  
“I dunno, he’s got some pretty good competition here.” Eugene looked around.  
  
\--  
  
“Oh, shoot!” Cassandra winced as she accidentally spilled onto a table. “Ugh.” She set the pitcher down and went to get a towel.  
  
“Cassie?” Varian caught her attention and pulled out a vial before sprinkling the contents onto the stain and then pulled out the flowers from the vase on the table to drop water onto it. It vanished and she stared in awe.  
  
“How did you do that?” She asked.  
  
“Oh, simple. Grapes are acidic, by combining the alkalinity from the flowers' barley grass with rock salt, I was able to stop the stain's adhesion. Alchemy!” He said cheerfully.  
  
“Wow, you’ve really got a knack for this stuff.” She remarked. “So, _what_ , of all your brilliant ideas, are you going to show off?” She nudged him.  
  
“Cassandra, are you trying to get a sneak-peek? I haven’t even shown Eugene.” Varian chuckled.  
  
“Why him?” She raised an eyebrow.  
  
“He agreed to be my assistant.” Varian shrugged. “Don’t worry, you’ll see it soon. I hope you’ll be there for it when it’s my turn.”  
  
She smiled. “Wouldn’t miss it, kid.” She rubbed his head and then they moved on to the next items on their lists.  
  
Before she knew it, her work was done. She gave Varian a grateful smile and headed off to do her usual lady-in-waiting duties while he wandered off to do…whatever he was doing.  
  
“Hey.”   
  
Varian caught her attention and she turned to him. “Yeah?”  
  
He walked back over to her. “If he still tries to tell you ‘no’ after all this, just let me know. I’ll talk him into letting you be a guard. Because you’re a really good one and deserve it.”  
  
She blushed a bit. “Aw, thanks. See you later, Varian.”   
  
“See you later!” He smiled and walked out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What does Varian have planned for his presentation?


	6. 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian presents his new invention at the Expo, but trouble happens when someone sabotages his work, forcing him to display something ELSE to the Expo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

With the duties to prepare for the expo finished, Varian took the time to wander around looking at the other inventions. ‘Lots of interesting stuff here.’ He thought. ‘I’m sure they’ll all come to benefit the kingdom, no matter who wins. After all, isn’t that what’s important?’  
  
He stopped and looked towards the direction of Old Corona, wondering how his dad was doing.  
  
“Varian, hey!” Eugene tapped his shoulder and he nodded to him with a smile. “Ready to start setting up for your big reveal?”  
  
“Sure.” Varian nodded. “Let’s go to my workshop to pick it up.” He headed off and Eugene followed him.  
  
“Ugh, this is taking forever.” They heard Cass grumble, and Varian sighed and walked over to her. “Why so many guest rooms…”  
  
“Still need help?” He asked cheerfully.  
  
“By the Sun, yes. I—oh, Eugene’s here, too?” She asked.  
  
“We were on the way to start setting up.” Eugene shrugged. “Kid heard you and decided to help out. And, well, I guess since I’m _here_ …”  
  
“Alright.” She smiled slightly. “I can trust Varian to make sure you don’t mess things up for me.”  
  
“That’s good enough for me.” Eugene said as Varian laughed. Then they all took from the cart she had and got to work on preparing the rooms for the guests.   
  
Eugene couldn’t help but notice that both of them were humming as they worked. “Hey, uh, what songs are you guys singing there?”  
  
“I don’t actually know.” Cassandra shrugged. “A lullaby my real parents did? It’s been in my head for years, but no words.”  
  
“I’m trying to figure out the black rock incantation, but I’m only three lines in.” Varian shrugged helplessly. “All these years and I can’t figure out the darkness part. And then there’s a whole other verse!”  
  
“Ooookay, then. Carry on.” Eugene shrugged and they went back to work.  
  
“So, what did you mean by ‘real parents’?” Varian asked as they moved on to the next set of rooms.  
  
“Oh, I-I’m adopted.” Cassandra admitted. “My real parents abandoned me when I was just a kid, and I don’t remember them.”  
  
“I can relate to that. Well, not the adopted part. Maybe if someone _had_ adopted me, I wouldn’t have been a thief.” Eugene shrugged. “But, then I also wouldn’t have climbed the tower and met the most beautiful girl in the world and her sassy kid brother!”  
  
Varian grinned. “Fate works in funny ways.”  
  
“It sure does.” Cassandra nodded, and then they split off to work on the rooms again.  
  
When they met up again, the conversation continued. “So, why are you so anxious to get this done before the expo?” Eugene asked.  
  
“My dad said that he’d let me be part of the guard, _if_ I got everything done in time.” Cassandra sighed. “No matter how much I want it or how hard I work, his standards for me are higher than they are for anyone else.”  
  
“Well,” Varian grinned, “We’re at the last rooms. Why don’t you go and we’ll take care of the rest of these?”  
  
“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver.” She hugged him and ran off.  
  
Varian watched her go, his cheeks a bit pink. Eugene grinned and nudged him. “Aww, you _do_ have a crush.”  
  
“Wha—I do _not_.” He grabbed what he needed and escaped into a room, Eugene laughing behind him.  
  
After they finished, splitting Cass’s share between the two of them on top of their own, they went to his workshop to retrieve his invention.  
  
\--  
  
Rapunzel bobbed on her feet as she waited anxiously through display after display for Varian’s turn. The man judging the whole thing, Dr. Alcott St. Croix, was a very harsh judge she noticed, and she _hoped_ that he wouldn’t anger or upset Varian. The last thing she and Varian wanted was for him to lose his temper in front of everyone. Especially since Cassandra had been assigned as St. Croix’s security detail.  
  
Finally, it was his turn. Varian and Eugene came on-stage and Eugene started his intro. “Everyone, prepare to witness something that you will never see anywhere else! I can guarantee that you will not regret witnessing the newest invention of Varian the Alchemist!”  
  
Varian bowed to the audience and then gestured to the machine. “I call it the Elemental Remogrifier. I take this sand,” He gestured to Eugene, who was starting to pour sand into the machine as Varian pulled a lever to turn it on, “and the rotation causes friction, which heats the sand, while the counter-centrifugal force promotes particle compression. The end result?” The machine stopped and he pulled out a purple crystal. “Fifty pounds of sand has been changed into this _beautiful_ work of art.”  
  
The crowd ooh’d and ahh’d and Rapunzel bounced on her feet excitedly.  
  
The judge seemed impressed, and Varian smiled fondly at the jewel. “I call this element ‘Cassandrium’.” He announced, and Cassandra hid her blush under her hand.  
  
“Well, it’s a contender.” The judge said. “Let’s move on.”  
  
Varian and Eugene bowed and then they moved off the stage with his invention and Rapunzel had to keep herself from following him so she could see the following act.  
  
\--  
  
“Everybody at this expo make some noise! This is the momensational moment you've all been waiting for. But first! I give you... chocolate!” The boisterous woman that stepped up after Varian said.  
  
‘Bribing the judge?’ Varian thought, frowning as he picked up one of the thrown chocolates.  
  
“Now, this is science!” The judge said, eating it eagerly.  
  
‘Yeah, _suspicious_ science.’ Varian narrowed his eyes.  
  
She revealed some kind of floating crystal ball and he raised an eyebrow. ‘Looks like there’s some kind of device that cancels out gravity. But, how is it not going too high? I’m curious what she’s going to say about it.’  
  
To his confusion and annoyance, she said nothing about it. Worst of all, the judge declared her the winner. Varian eyed the chocolate and walked off to his workshop.  
  
“Varian, wait!” Eugene ran after him.  
  
“She’s suspicious. There was clearly some kind of manipulation done with this chocolate, so I’m going to study it and find out what’s in this.” He told him.  
  
He heard a commotion and turned around to see that the judge had fallen over, knocking his invention into the unknown one. “Oh no.” He turned and ran back, cringing when he realized that his invention had somehow been turned on. ‘What is going on here? Sabotage?’  
  
“Varian!” Cassandra cried.  
  
He spotted her trying to get the judge out of the area and he and Eugene ran over to help.  
  
“Is everything okay?!” Rapunzel called.  
  
“We’re fine, but I’d like some answers on what happened!” Varian looked up. “Oh, great. Those will have to wait.”  
  
“What? Why?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“Get him and everyone to safety.” He stood up, his eyes glowing a bit. “However this happened, because of the rotation of _my_ machine meeting the magnetic energy of _her_ machine, there is now a cyclone forming!”  
  
“A cyclone?!” Cassandra helped the unconscious man to his feet the best she could to half-drag him. Eugene took over and Rapunzel went to get everyone else to safety. “What if we can’t stop it?!”  
  
“Its angular momentum is rapidly approaching critical velocity. Once that happens, it'll suck up everything in sight. Us! The castle! _Everything_!” He informed her.  
  
“Okay, then. I guess my next question is: _how_ do we stop it?” Cassandra looked at him.  
  
He clenched his fists. “There's only one way to stop it. I gotta get close enough to pull the hand brake!” He took a step towards it, his body tensing.  
  
“Varian?” Cassandra moved towards him. “You’re not doing this alone.”  
  
He looked at her and smiled, then gasped as he started to lift into the air. “Whoa!”   
  
“Varian!” She grabbed his leg as he rose above her.  
  
He looked to the side. “I can’t reach it from here…” He pursed his lips and held out a hand. “I can’t let it hurt anyone…whoever sabotaged it…I can’t let them hurt anyone!”  
  
“Varian?” She frowned, seeing his eyes and hair starting to glow brighter than she’d ever seen it. Instead of just the streak, his entire hair turned blue and even his freckles were glowing now. He raised a gloved hand towards the machines, the wind threatening to pull him away if Cassandra didn’t have a firm hold on him and a pillar.  
  
“Stop…MOVING!” He yelled, and black rocks started to shoot up from the ground and stab through the two inventions. Her jaw dropped in a mixture of fear and awe as the machine was forced to stop and then she gasped and caught the unconscious boy when he fell, no longer glowing, as the cyclone dispersed harmlessly above them, dropping whatever it’d already picked up to the ground.  
  
“…Rapunzel?!” She called in alarm.  
  
\--  
  
  
The saboteur was never found, nor the woman with the crystal ball - only a strange symbol painted on the wall nearby. Rapunzel sat at Varian’s bedside while Cassandra and Eugene looked into the mysterious symbol.  
  
“The Separatists of Saporia.” Rapunzel frowned when they revealed their findings. “Who are they?”  
  
“They’re…bad people, Raps. Really bad people. You know the Day of Hearts coming up?” Cassandra asked her.  
  
“Yeah.” Rapunzel nodded.  
  
“Well, that’s celebrating when Corona and Saporia gave up their war and merged. The Separatists of Saporia are people that opposed the merge and seek to destroy Corona and rebuild Saporia on its’ ashes.” Cassandra explained.  
  
“That’s terrible!” Rapunzel frowned.  
  
“Nn…” Varian groaned and they looked at him.  
  
“Hey, little brother.” Rapunzel reached out and stroked his cheek gently. “You exhausted yourself.”  
  
“I couldn’t…I couldn’t let it hurt anyone. Did you find the saboteur?” He asked anxiously.  
  
“No…just who they’re working with.” Cassandra frowned, then gave him a reassuring smile. “Sorry you didn’t win, kid.”  
  
“I don’t care about _that_. Even if she cheated by brainwashing him with her suspicious chocolate.” He sighed and then reached into his jacket, holding out the crystal. “This is for you, though.”  
  
She blinked and accepted it. “For me?”  
  
“Mmhm.” He smiled tiredly.  
  
Cassandra smiled and hold it close. “Thanks, Varian.” She stood up. “I’ll be back later, alright? You get some rest.”  
  
He nodded and gave a tired wave before looking at Rapunzel and Eugene. Cassandra left the room and closed the door, looking at the crystal before clenching her fist around it and walking down the hall with a determined expression.  
  
‘I don’t know who the saboteur was exactly, but _someone_ is going to _pay_ for this.’ She thought furiously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something wicked this way comes.


	7. 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shortly after the Expo, there's another festival! The story behind it is connected to Saporia...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

Cassandra was hiding something, apparently, and Rapunzel couldn’t leave her alone about it.  
  
“Oh, come on! You can tell me!” Rapunzel insisted.   
  
“No, I can’t, and I don’t want to.”  
  
“But we’re friends, and friends tell secrets!” Rapunzel insisted.  
  
Varian looked up at them from the book he was reading, which was explaining what the upcoming Day of Hearts was about. ‘Really, it’s like all Corona _does_ is party.’ He thought. ‘Well, and apparently go to war, but that’s old news.’ He looked back at the book.  
  
[ _Centuries ago, Corona was engaged in a years-long war with its rival Kingdom, Saporia._ ]   
  
‘Saporia…’ He frowned a bit, thinking of what he’d been told about the saboteur.   
  
[ _Corona’s then-king, Herz Der Sonne, created a complex system of tunnels to move his knights and supplies wherever he needed. He then made a detailed map of these tunnels and their secrets in a secure journal. At the height of the war, Der Sonne’s sworn enemy, General Shampanier, launched a full-scale invasion on Corona. Shampanier fought her way through the castle to face King Herz Der Sonne himself. Their battle waged for hours with neither side relenting. That is, until Shampanier discovered that the book’s final pages contained Herz’s profession of love for her. It was then she realized she held similar feelings for him as well._ ]  
  
He made a face at the sheer cheesiness of it and decided to turn his attention instead to the drawing he’d made of the emblem for the Separatists of Saporia. ‘If such a map really exists, then they will probably have another agent sneak in to steal it.’ He reasoned.  
  
“Hey, little brother.” Rapunzel leaned over his shoulder. “What’cha doing?”  
  
“Plotting.” He said casually, then looked over his shoulder. “Where’d Cassie go?”  
  
“Oh, I think she said she was going to the Day of Hearts celebration. Come on.” She smiled and took his hand, leading him away from the book.  
  
“Rapunzel, I’m _trying_ to _plot_!” He said as she led him out of the room, leaving behind the book and drawing.  
  
\--  
  
The celebration was full of joy and love and the King and Queen started it off by writing their names in the journal he read about and kissing. Then Queen Arianna threw paper hearts round for people to catch and give to people they liked.  
  
One of the bar thugs caught one and offered it to Cassandra and she made a face before walking away from him. Varian caught one and walked after her. “Hey, Cass!”  
  
“Hm?” She looked over at him.  
  
He smiled and held out the heart with a little grin. She looked amused and accepted it. “I see you’re wearing the element I made for you.”  
  
“Well, it looks nice. Besides, you went through all the trouble to make it, why not show it off? Make people jealous, I guess.” She nudged him with a playful smirk.  
  
Varian laughed. “Is it working?”  
  
“Oh yeah, everyone keeps asking me where I got this beautiful crystal from and how much was it. You know what I told them?” She leaned in a bit.  
  
“What’d you tell them?” He asked.  
  
“About the price of a fifty-pound bag of sand.” She laughed and playfully shoved him. “I told them it was one of a kind and priceless. Just like you.” She brushed his cheek with her hand. “You should get back to your sister, I bet she’s worried.”  
  
“Uhm…yeah.” Varian nodded, his cheeks going a bit pink. “See you later.”  
  
Cassandra waved and walked off, pocketing the heart he gave her. He smiled and then turned to go back to Rapunzel.  
  
\--  
  
“Hey, Varian?” Rapunzel rolled over her side to look over at him standing on the balcony of their room. “Has Cass seemed strange to you?”  
  
“No, she seemed really nice today.” He said, smiling shyly.  
  
“Hm…well, I saw her rip someone’s paper heart and grumble about the Day of Hearts, so I guess I thought she was upset about something.” She shrugged. “That was before you went after her, at least.”  
  
“She didn’t rip mine.” Varian hummed.  
  
Rapunzel sat up. “And _you’re_ reading into it.”  
  
“A little.” He shrugged. “But…she also treated me like a kid, so it could be nothing.” He got off the balcony and stretched. “I’m going for a walk.”  
  
“At night? By yourself?!” Rapunzel frowned.  
  
“Sis, I’ll be okay.” Varian assured her.  
  
“Uhm, _no_. You already got nearly sucked into a cyclone, who _knows_ what’ll happen if—oh, _Sun_ , I’m sounding like my father. Carry on!” Rapunzel laughed awkwardly. “I’m…gonna go find Eugene. Hey, think you can find out where Cassandra keeps sneaking off to?”  
  
“Sure.” He smiled and then headed out into the city.  
  
\--  
  
The black rocks crushing the two machines together was a bitter reminder of what almost happened and he wrapped his arms around himself before turning to face the painted emblem on the wall nearby. ‘By process of elimination, I can determine that the saboteur must’ve been the woman that displayed her work after I did. What was her name? Fernanda Pizazzo? How did she control the gravity levels so well? I wish I could examine her machine better. Too bad it’s smashed and buried in black rocks.’  
  
He looked up at the moon, pursing his lips. ‘I’ve never made black rocks so _big_ before…Am I getting _stronger_ or losing more control?’  
  
He spotted Cassandra heading for the docks and slipped after her, following closely and silently. He was glad that he left Ruddiger asleep in the bedroom.  
  
He saw Cassandra stop and reach out to catch a floating lantern. Then a man stepped out of the shadows and she turned to him with a surprised smile. “You’re here.”  
  
“How could I resist the invitation?” He asked, slipping a rose into her hair. “You’ve enticed me with your words, Cassandra.”  
  
“Well, you’re pretty good with them, too. I missed you at the festival today.” She moved closer to him.  
  
“Sorry, lost of track of time.” He said, and they moved closer. “Besides, isn’t this better? Just the two of us?”  
  
“Yeah…” Cassandra smiled.  
  
She suddenly gasped and turned in alarm before letting out a sigh. “Varian!”  
  
He smiled up at her, having come out of the shadows. “Hi, Cass! Nice night!”  
  
“What are you doing here?” She looked around. “Are you alone?”  
  
“I’m just patrolling. Never know if there’s another ‘Duchess of Quintonia’ lurking around.” Varian shrugged. “Did I interrupt something?”  
  
“Who’s this?” The man asked good-naturedly.  
  
Varian turned his attention to the man. He had a neatly-trimmed beard on his face and his hair was tied up in a bun. His clothes were leathers and furs and he had a friendly smile on his lips. He smiled back and held out a gloved hand. “I’m Varian!”  
  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Varian. The name’s Andrew.” He took his hand and shook it.  
  
Varian held his hand a bit longer than usual, staring at him silently. Andrew started to look uncomfortable and then he let go of him. “I haven’t seen you here before.”  
  
“Oh, yeah, I’m not from around here. I’m visiting for the festival.” He smiled at Cassandra. “For Cassandra.”  
  
She blushed. “Aww.”  
  
Varian narrowed his eyes slightly. ‘I don’t know what it is…but I’m getting some serious Gothel vibes from this guy.’ He thought. “Well, I guess I’ll go continue my patrol. I’ll see you around, Andrew. See you later, Cass.” He turned and walked off, humming to himself.  
  
“So, who IS that kid?” Andrew asked.  
  
“He’s pretty much the princess’s kid brother. Only they aren’t related. Anyways, you were saying?” Cassandra asked, drawing the man’s attention from Varian.  
  
“Only that you’re even more beautiful than I imagined from your letters.” Andrew said affectionately.  
  
“Oh, you…you’re just flattering me.” Cassandra said, then gasped softly.  
  
Varian looked over his shoulder and frowned, seeing them embracing – only Andrew’s eyes were open and staring at him with a sly smile.  
  
He felt a chill run through him and hurried off.  
  
\--  
  
“Cassandra has a _boyfriend_?!” Rapunzel squealed in excitement. “No WONDER she reacted like that to everyone but you!” She paused. “Uh, no offense.”  
  
“I knew she didn’t see me that way. She’s still wearing the gift I made her while flirting with him, though.” Varian smiled smugly.  
  
“Well, I need to meet him!” Rapunzel stood up. “Is he going to be at the festival tomorrow?”  
  
“I dunno.” Varian took off his giggles and yawned. “But, I’m ready to sleep.”  
  
“Okay.” She giggled and then tapped his shoulder. “Look, Ruddiger and Pascal are _cuddling_!”  
  
He looked over and smiled. Pascal was curled up on top of Ruddiger, who was curled up on top of Varian’s pillow. He smiled and they scooted Rapunzel’s pillow a little bit more the other way so they could lie down together without disturbing the two of them.  
  
That night, Andrew joined the ranks of people that the Moon took the form of to torment him and he woke up in the early hours of the morning and ran a hand through his hair. ‘Something is _really dangerous_ about him.’ He thought.  
  
\--  
  
The next morning, they saw Andrew sooner than they expected. Apparently, he was lurking around the castle and Rapunzel, Eugene and Varian saw him playfully teasing her while she was doing laundry.  
  
“Is that…him?” Rapunzel said, her jaw dropping.  
  
“ _That’s_ Cassandra’s boyfriend?” Eugene raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Yeah, that’s him.” Varian nodded.  
  
He'd told them about his encounter the night before – all but the last part, where he stared him down while hugging Cassandra. He didn’t need Rapunzel going into a panic and trying to stop Cassandra from dating a guy that was potentially dangerous.  
  
“He’s so hand—I mean, uh, his hands are, uh…big. Yeah. Not…proportionate at all.” Rapunzel said, getting flustered at Eugene gaped at her. “SO not attractive at all.”  
  
“You think he’s _handsome_?! His eyebrows are clearly asymmetrical, and you call that _facial hair_? Come on.” Eugene looked downright _offended_ that she’d find the man attractive.  
  
“Hey, not _everyone_ has a nose that no one can seem to get right.” Varian teased him. “Just because you’re too perfect for the kingdom, it doesn’t mean that you can insult Cassandra’s guy.”  
  
“Psh. She’d be better off dating _you_ , you’d look better.” Eugene flicked Varian’s hair playfully with a grin.  
  
“Pest.” Varian shoved him lightly.  
  
Rapunzel got up. “I’m going to go say ‘hi!” She ran over. “Hi, Cass!”  
  
“Oh boy.” Varian and Eugene got up and followed her out.  
  
Cassandra looked surprised as they joined her and Andrew looked intrigued by their approach. “Rapunzel, I…” She looked at Varian and sighed. “He told you?”  
  
“Was I not _supposed_ to?” He asked innocently. “You never told me to keep it secret.”  
  
Andrew laughed. “Ah, why hide it?” He gave a polite bow. “You must be the fair Princess Rapunzel.” He extended her hand she offered it, blushing a bit when he kissed her hand “Pleasure to finally meet you, Your Highness.”  
  
Eugene cleared his throat and moved between them, easily moving her hand from Andrew’s. “Yeah, and I’m Eugene. Her boyfriend.”  
  
“Andrew, Cassandra’s boyfriend.” He extended his hand to him next and Eugene grabbed it for a firm handshake. “Such aggression.” Andrew moved closer and spoke quietly. “I hope that doesn’t translate to the bedroom.”  
  
Eugene grew flustered, let go of him and stepped back a few feet. “Wha—I—anyways, nice to meet you too, I guess.”  
  
Andrew just placed his arm around Cassandra’s shoulder. “Did you need something in particular?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“Oh, uhm…we were thinking of hanging out! Getting to know your new beau!” Rapunzel said cheerfully.  
  
Cassandra looked exasperated. “…I’d…rather not, if that’s okay. I don’t want to go…uh…public about this yet.”  
  
“And you’re doing chase games in broad daylight?” Varian raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Kid’s right, you’re not exactly hiding it.” Eugene nodded.  
  
Cassandra sighed heavily. “Raps…”  
  
“Just a hangout, then. We’ll do it in the library, just five friends hanging out.” Rapunzel insisted. “Pleeeease?”  
  
“Hey, I think I’ll head back out into town now, anyway. See you later, Cass.” He squeezed her hand gently and walked out of the courtyard.  
  
“…I didn’t mean to scare him off.” Rapunzel said sheepishly.  
  
“Well, you did.” Cassandra frowned.  
  
“Good riddance.” Eugene grumbled.  
  
“You just can’t let me be happy, can you, Fitzherbert? You just can’t let me have one good thing in my life?! What, is he not enough of a _viper_ for you?” Cassandra snapped.  
  
“Whoa, I never said that!” Eugene said defensively.  
  
“Guys, don’t fight!” Rapunzel cried.  
  
Varian watched where Andrew went and headed after him silently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can Cassandra's new beau be trusted?


	8. 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew is not what he claims to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

When he first stepped out into town, he didn’t see where he went. After walking around a bit, though, he finally spotted him going down an alleyway and crept after him. He stepped out after he did and looked around, frowning when he didn’t see him.  
  
“You know, you’re _really_ nosy.”  
  
He paled and resisted the urge to scream in surprise before he turned to find that Andrew had, somehow, gotten behind him. “I just…want to make sure my friend is okay.”  
  
“So you stalk me into town?” Andrew raised an eyebrow and stepped forward. Varian stepped back, suddenly aware of just how very alone they were. ‘This…was a bad idea.’ He thought. ‘I miscalculated really badly.’  
  
Andrew kept walking forward and he backed up until he hit the wall. Andrew moved his hand forward and he tensed, flinching when he rubbed his head affectionately. “You act like I’m going to _eat_ you.” He laughed a bit. “Come on, little princeling. Let’s get you back home.” He wrapped his arm around his shoulders and led him back through the alleyway.  
  
“Why were you back here?” Varian asked.  
  
“Avoiding the shopping crowd.” Andrew replied as they stepped out. “Don’t you ever take the backstreets to avoid the crowds?”  
  
“Uh, no. Because that’s asking to get kidnapped.” Varian frowned.  
  
“And following a guy that you, apparently, don’t actually trust _isn’t_?” Andrew stopped in front of the castle gates and let go of him. “Get back inside before they send out a search party for you, kid.” He waved and walked off to the alleyways again.  
  
Varian shuddered and rubbed his shoulders before walking back into the castle.  
  
“Varian!” Rapunzel cried, running over and hugging him. “You suddenly disappeared; you didn’t tell anyone where you went! Are you okay?!” She checked him over.  
  
“I…yeah. Andrew…made sure I got home safe.” Varian nodded.  
  
Rapunzel looked relieved, then frowned. “Don’t _ever_ scare me like that again!”  
  
He smiled sheepishly. “Yes, ma’am.”  
  
She sighed and held him close. “Let’s go inside. I was on the verge of calling a search party for you! If you’d been hurt…”  
  
“I’m okay.” Varian assured her. “Really.”  
  
\--  
  
“Why didn’t you _say_ you had a hot-air balloon? This is so cool!” Rapunzel said as she looked out at the city under them.  
  
At Rapunzel’s insistence, Cassandra had agreed for them to spend some “quality time” as a group and Andrew had casually suggested they go for a flight, which is what led them to being high above the city in a basket carried by a giant cloth balloon powered by a machine perpetually blowing fire up into said cloth balloon.  
  
“Why do you use a hot-air balloon when you could just use a cart?” Varian asked curiously.  
  
“Ballooning is one of my passions. What better way to see nature’s gifts than from a bird’s perspective? Besides, I don’t condone modes of transportation that exploit animals.” Andrew leaned back against the wall of the basket.  
  
“Woo-hoo!” Rapunzel cheered, then gasped. “It’s like being in a giant lantern! It’s magic!”  
  
“It’s simple science, actually, but yes, your Highness, it can be quite magical.” Andrew corrected her with a smile.  
  
“I could probably build one of these.” Varian said thoughtfully.  
  
“Oh?” Andrew raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Varian is an alchemist.” Rapunzel said, grinning. “He made that pretty stone around Cass’s neck, and he makes such amazing inventions!” She hugged him.  
  
“Really?” Andrew chuckled. “That’s pretty cool, would not have expected that from one so young.”  
  
“SO, since we’re stuck together for now, why did you two even get together?” Eugene asked. “Is she blackmailing you? Blink three times for ‘yes’.”  
  
Cassandra elbowed him sharply.  
  
“Ah, of course you would wonder that.” Andrew nodded. “You see, I am a bibliophile, a great lover of books. And one book that I have always yearned to study from beginning to end is the famous King Herz Der Sonne’s journal. So, I sent the Captain of the Guards many letters requesting an opportunity to study the book up close.” He smiled and took Cassandra’s hand and she continued the story.  
  
“But my dad asked me to send a letter rejecting his request, for security reasons.” Cassandra smiled fondly to him. “So, instead, I invited him to come see the book on the Day of Hearts, when it’s available to the public.”  
  
“And our letters continued and well,” Andrew chuckled, “Cassie and I got to know each other, _very_ well.”  
  
They hugged and Eugene made a gagging motion while Rapunzel squealed a bit.  
  
“That is so cute!” She declared. “You’re a lucky man, our Cassie is _quite_ the catch! She’s one of the greatest fighters I’ve ever met!”  
  
Andrew raised an eyebrow and Cassandra coughed awkwardly. “Oh, look, it’s about time to head back! Thanks for the ride, Andrew. Really.”  
  
Varian raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.  
  
“Eugene, would you like to take us down?” Andrew offered him.  
  
“Oh, yes!” Eugene hurried over and Andrew walked over to stand next to him. “Gently twist the valve counterclockwise to vent the hot air.” He said calmly, demonstrating what to do.  
  
“Thanks, ace, I’ll take it from here.” Eugene said, nudging him back and looking excitedly at the valve.  
  
Andrew walked over and picked up a sandbag and dropped it, leaning over the edge slightly. A necklace slipped out of his shirt and dangled as he did and rested on his chest when he stood up straight.   
  
“Ohh!” Rapunzel reached for it. “May I see your necklace? It looks so beautiful!”  
  
“Of course.” He took it off and handed it to her. “It’s been in my family for decades, it means, ‘Love is true inner wealth’.”  
  
“It’s such a unique design!” Rapunzel said, looking at it in awe.  
  
“Yes, it was a design made by my family.” Andrew nodded.  
  
“You said clockwise, right?” Eugene said, and then there was a heavy jolt. Varian yelped and hung on and Rapunzel cried out as the necklace went flying off into the woods below. “Crap! It was counterclockwise, wasn’t it?”  
  
Andrew sighed. “Yes, Eugene. It was.”  
  
“I am _so_ sorry. We’ll find it for you.” Rapunzel assured him.  
  
They split off into two groups, Cassandra with Andrew and Eugene with Varian and Rapunzel.  
  
“We’ll be lucky if we find it in daylight and it’s getting dark.” Varian commented as they walked around. “What does it even look like?”  
  
“Like a golden pendant with a funky design.” Rapunzel said unhelpfully.  
  
“Golden pendant. Right.” Varian looked around, then spotted something. “Oh!” He knelt down and picked up…one half of the pendant. “Shoot. Well, if we find the _other_ half, I _should_ be able to fix it.”  
  
“I hope you can. He said it was a family heirloom.” Rapunzel said awkwardly.  
  
They found the other half and Varian frowned. ‘It looks…familiar.’ He thought, tilting his head at the design. ‘ _Really_ …familiar.’  
  
“Oh, good, you found it!” Rapunzel looked relieved, then looked around. “Hey, where’s the balloon?”  
  
“I bet Cassandra convinced him to make us walk back because we broke his pendant.” Eugene said, frowned. “That’d be _just_ like her.” His expression softened. “Or, maybe they just wanted some time alone. C’mon, let’s start heading back.”  
  
Varian nodded and they started heading back. As they left the woods, the moonlight shone on the pendant and Varian gasped. “SAPORIA!”  
  
“What?!” Rapunzel and Eugene cried in unison.  
  
He showed them the emblem. “ _That’s_ the same emblem that was on the wall by the science expo. He’s one of the Separatists of Saporia!”  
  
Rapunzel paled. “I didn’t even _realize_ …Cass!” She ran on to the castle and the other two followed behind.  
  
“Varian, get the Captain! We’ll go find Cass and Andrew!” Eugene told him, and Varian nodded and ran off to the barracks.  
  
\--  
  
“We don’t have a lot of time.” Cassandra giggled as she walked with Andrew to the journal.  
  
“Oh, don’t worry.” Andrew assured her. “This won’t take long.”  
  
They walked over and Andrew reached out a hand to open the book, turning the pages with a smile on his face. “It’s exactly as I imagined. Amazing.”  
  
He picked up the quill and handed it to her. “Find the perfect space for us?”  
  
Cassandra smiled and accepted it, then walked towards the book and started to write. Andrew stood behind her, eyeing her silently.   
  
_~“You’re a lucky man, our Cassie is quite the catch! She’s one of the greatest fighters I’ve ever met!”~_  
  
He fingered his sword thoughtfully. If she was as good as the princess claimed, then he’d have to be smart about this. He moved his hand away from the retractable sword in his vest and went to the knife hidden in his boot instead before walking up behind her. “Find a place yet, beautiful?”  
  
“Not quite yet. You said you wanted the _perfect_ one.” She glanced back at him and smiled. “Why the rush?”  
  
“You’re the one that said we didn’t have much time.” He chuckled, moving a hand to her hip. “Unless that’s changed?”  
  
“No, I don’t think it has.” She turned another page.  
  
Her body was tense, on alert. He’d have to be quick. He rubbed her side with one hand and she leaned into his shoulder behind her. ‘Perfect.’ He thought, smirking as she closed her eyes.  
  
He moved quickly. His knife went from behind his back and stabbed her in the side. She let out a sharp gasp and caught herself on the journal’s stand before she elbowed him into backing up. He let out a groan and she held her side as she turned to him. “You…”  
  
“Oh, come on. You have your own knife; don’t think I didn’t notice.” He said as she pulled out said weapon and slashed at him. He stepped back a few paces and ducked around her. “I should thank your stupid princess. I never would’ve thought to _look_ for a weapon, if she hadn’t mentioned your fighting prowess.”  
  
“You…who _are_ you, really?!” Cassandra demanded. “I know you’re a thief and a fraud, but who ARE you?!”  
  
“Cassandra!”  
  
Andrew clicked his tongue and looked over at Rapunzel and Eugene running in. ‘The kid’s not here. Maybe I can go with Plan B, after all.’ He thought. “Who am I, you ask?” He chuckled. “I think the princess knows.”  
  
“Cass! He’s a Separatist of Saporia!” Rapunzel held up the two pieces of the pendant.  
  
“Cassandra, you’re hurt!” Eugene realized, and they ran in.   
  
Andrew drew his sword and slashed at them when they got near Cassandra, scaring Rapunzel into dropping the pendant, which he scooped up from the floor. “I’ll have that back, thank you.”  
  
“Cass!” Rapunzel knelt next to her as Andrew stepped towards the book. “Cass, oh god, the blood—”  
  


“Don’t take it out, it’s keeping the blood from gushing out!” Cassandra told her firmly.  
  
“I don’t think so!” Eugene charged at Andrew with his own sword and he moved away from the book.  
  
“You’ll let me take the book, or else.” He held up the pendant and shifted it in the moonlight shining through the window behind him.  
  
“’Or else’, what?” Rapunzel asked, suddenly worried.  
  
“Where did your little brother go, princess?” Andrew smirked coldly.  
  
“He went to get the Captain!” Eugene said smugly. “You’ll be in chains anytime now!”  
  
Andrew grinned. “Did he? Did he really get him?” He pointed out the window, where they saw a hot-air balloon lifting off, with a small figure dangling like one of the sandbags. “Because it looks to me like _my_ people got _him_.”  
  
Rapunzel let out a primal yell and charged at him. Andrew was startled by the sudden show of aggression from the sweet princess and she slammed him into the wall, her nails digging into his neck.  
  
“Bring him BACK!” She yelled.  
  
“The book…for the boy.” He grinned at her. “Your choice, princess.”  
  
She looked shocked, looking towards the window, then grabbed the book and shoved it into his chest. “There! Now give him back!”  
  
“How about a safe escort back to my balloon?” He smirked and headed for the door, book in hand.  
  
“Eugene…get Cass to the doctor.” Rapunzel walked to the door. “I’ll walk him out by myself.”  
  
“Risky move, princess.” Andrew chuckled as he walked down the hall with her.  
  
“Why do you want the book so badly?” She asked.  
  
“Because of the _map_ , obviously.” He rolled his eyes. “ _Stars_ , you’re kind of dumb.”  
  
She fumed.  
  
\--  
  
“Cass, you’re in no shape to help.” Eugene said as she started after them. “Let me just get you to a medic and then I pro—”  
  
“NO! This is all my fault! I lured him here knowing he was a fraud, I suspected he might be connected to the Separatists, and not Varian and Rapunzel are in danger because I expected him to use that damn sword, not a knife! And…I got pulled in by his charm, damn it.” She pulled out the knife and cried out. She heard the sound of cloth ripping and looked over to see Eugene had ripped off his sleeves.  
  
“Better my shirt than your dress.” He said, wrapping up her waist. “Though, it’s already pretty damaged.”  
  
“…Thanks.” Cassandra picked up the knife. “Let’s go save that kid.” She limped out the door, Eugene following with his knife.  
  
\--  
  
“Okay, we’re here. Now return Varian!” Rapunzel said as Andrew got into the hot-air balloon.  
  
“Why don’t we go for a flight, princess.” He smirked. “We’ll meet up with the other balloon and hand him over mid-air. Then we’ll set you down in the woods, no muss, no fuss.”  
  
“…Fine.” She got into the balloon with him and Andrew started up the balloon, lifting them into the air.  
  
“You value family over kingdom. I respect that.” Andrew said as they lifted into the air. “Of course, in my case, my family _is_ my kingdom.”  
  
“Stop trying to be friendly. Your game is up, you’ve won.” She said, looking ahead of her at the other balloon. Andrew signaled to them and they flew towards the woods as Andrew steered the same way.  
  
‘I can’t make a single move until I get Varian back or they’ll cut him loose as easily as one of those sandbags.’ Rapunzel thought, clenching her fists. ‘Once I do, though…Andrew is _going down_.’  
  
They moved over the woods and then Andrew lowered his closer to the ground. “Get out here. Once you’re out, they’ll lower him on rope for you to grab him.” Andrew informed her.  
  
“Fine.” She stepped out. “You better keep to it, then.”  
  
“Don’t worry, princess. I keep my promises.” He motioned to the one above theirs to lower the boy and Rapunzel let out a cry of relief when he was lowered as promised.  
  
And he was _glowing_ , she realized. Andrew seemed to notice this too, and then yelped as black rocks stabbed the bottom of his basket from the ground. Rapunzel quickly untied Varian and then used her hair to anchor the other balloon while Andrew found himself cornered by black rocks that grounded his balloon for good.  
  
Varian removed his gag and glared down at the man, his eyes and hair glowing. “I _knew_ you were suspicious.”  
  
They heard guards running over and Andrew and the Saporians tried to bolt. Rapunzel swung her hair and slammed the balloon down onto Andrew, knocking out him and his people.  
  
“Rapunzel!” Eugene hopped off Mamixus, who he and Cassandra were riding.  
  
Cassandra gingerly climbed down and hugged Varian while the Royal Guards went over and cuffed the dazed Saporians. “I’m so sorry, I should’ve told you my plan from the start! I didn’t mean for you to get hurt, Varian!”  
  
Varian blinked. “Plan?”  
  
“I lured him here to try to find out what he knew about the Separatists of Saporia. I didn’t know he was a _member_!”  
  
“Leader.”  
  
They looked over at Andrew, who was looking smug. “I’m the _leader_. And when the rest of my people come for me, this kingdom will fall and New Saporia will rise.”  
  
“Alright, you can do all your gloating to a prison wall.” The Captain said as he and his accomplice were taken back across the bridge.  
  
“Hey, kid,” Andrew looked over at Varian with a smirk. “If you ever feel like changing allegiance, you’d do well in Saporia.”  
  
“…I don’t like him.” Varian decided as his glowing slowly went away with his anger.  
  
\--  
  
Andrew and his accomplice were led into the dungeon in shackles and locked into separate cells. “You’ll be waiting for your people for a looooong, long time.” The Captain taunted him as he locked the door and walked away. “Sleep well, terrorist.”  
  
Andrew smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. “Won’t be _that_ long.”  
  
“Hey, stranger,” He heard a woman say from a cell near him. “Welcome to the Hotel Corona, population: Criminals.”   
  
“Why, thank you for the warm welcome, my lady.” He greeted, turning to her. “And who might you be?”  
  
“You may call me ‘Lady Caine’. And you, stranger?” She leaned on the bars of her cell.  
  
“Andrew of Saporia.” He nodded to the woman in the cell across from his. “That there is Juniper, my second-in-command.”  
  
Juniper nodded in silent greeting.  
  
“Saporia, huh? So, you’re one of those Separatists?” Lady Caine asked.  
  
“The leader, actually.” Andrew informed her politely.  
  
“Well, well. And what brings you to live among the scum and villainy down here?” She ran her finger against one of her bars.  
  
“Oh, you know. You steal an old journal with a secret map and kidnap a kid that’s practically royalty and you’re a _criminal_.” Andrew shrugged.  
  
Lady Caine laughed. “I knoooow, it’s like you can’t crash a coronation and attempt to capture the entire royal family without getting in trouble anymore!”  
  
Andrew chuckled. “Ah, I would’ve succeeded if it wasn’t for those damn black rocks. Used the kid as a hostage and the princess was _pre_ -tty compliant.”  
  
“Ugh, I _know_. I had _everything_ going my way and then his dad or something showed up. I used the kid’s life as a hostage and they all froze, but then this big, black rock shot out of the floor and not only nearly _killed_ me but cut his binds and after that it was all over.”  
  
“Trashed my balloon as soon as I handed the kid back.” Andrew sighed heavily.  
  
“See, _your_ mistakes were that you didn’t knock the kid out or use proper chains.” They heard someone say from a cell a little bit aways. They looked over to see two hulking figures standing by the bars of their shared cell. “Was the kid _glowing_ when the black rocks showed up?”  
  
“Glowing? Uh, yeah.” Lady Caine nodded.  
  
“Was the _weirdest_ thing.” Andrew said thoughtfully.  
  
The man grinned. “What do you two know about the legend of the Sundrop and the Moonstone?”  
  
The other two looked at each other, then back at him. “Go on.” Lady Caine prompted.  
  
The two men grinned at each other and started to tell their _own_ tale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This could spell trouble for Varian in the future.


	9. 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Varian and Cassandra deal with the consequences of their recklessness with the Saporian leader, Rapunzel and Eugene try to help a friend in desperate need.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

Cassandra was laid up in bed the next few days, recovering from the attack. She was chided for risking herself, but also praised for her luring in someone that would’ve surely been a problem if he came in without warning. To cheer her up, and also because Rapunzel was busy, Varian stayed by her bedside and talked to her.  
  
“I’m surprised you’re with me right now.” Cassandra said as Varian carefully cut up an apple for her. “Isn’t that one baker thug friend of yours opening his shop today?”  
  
“Rapunzel’s going, she’ll pick me up something.” He said as he cut perfectly-divided slices and put them in a neat arrangement on a plate with grapes. “Besides, if I wasn’t with _you_ , I’d be in my lab.” He shrugged. “She’s a bit panicky about me going out into town so soon after I was nearly kidnapped again.”  
  
“That’s because she found out that you snuck off after Andrew because you thought he was suspicious.” Cassandra chuckled. “I know you seem to _think_ you’re a knight, but you don’t even know how to use a sword yet. Hey, maybe I can teach you once I’m feeling better!”  
  
“That’d be great!” Varian nodded.  
  
“Yeah, then we can _both_ be told that we can’t join the Royal Guard.” She said jokingly.  
  
“’It’s too dangerous’!” Varian said mockingly. “’I can’t let you risk yourself, you’re too important to me’!”  
  
Cassandra laughed, then hissed and held her side. “Ohhh, bad idea.”  
  
Varian’s brow furrowed. “If only Rapunzel could still heal, you’d be all healed up by now…”  
  
“It’s better that she can’t. She’s less likely to get targeted without powers.” Cassandra poked his nose. “Speaking of which, _you’ve_ been pretty active with _yours_ the past few days. We have a worrying amount of black rocks around town now.”  
  
Varian looked down sheepishly. “Yeah…”  
  
“Any luck with that spell?” She asked.  
  
He shook his head. “No, I’ve been trying but I can’t seem to…” He pursed his lips. “Well, I did get something more.”  
  
“Yeah?” She shifted a bit.  
  
“Uhm, do you want me to sing it?” He asked.  
  
She nodded. “If you want to.”  
  
He nodded, then cleared his throat before he started to sing.  
  
“ _Crescent high above,  
Evolving as you go,  
Raise what lies beneath  
And let the darkness grow._  
Let darkness grow.”  
  
He shrugged. “I don’t know the second part.”  
  
“Well, it’s pretty.” Cassandra smiled. “Maybe that will be enough.”  
  
“Nah, my hair would’ve been glowing.” He pinched his streak thoughtfully. “And I’ve never gotten any further than ‘darkness’.”  
  
“Well, good luck with that.” Cassandra took one of the apple slices and took a bite, smiling.  
  
Varian nodded, then glanced at her necklace. “So…you’re still wearing the crystal I made for you.”  
  
“Well, yeah.” She moved a hand to it. “It’s a gift from someone I care about.” She smiled. “Why wouldn’t I wear it?”  
  
He smiled shyly. “You care about me?”  
  
The door opened and Rapunzel poked her head in. “Hello! I bring delicious food! And, also, I need advice.” She brought them both cupcakes. “Bimberry butternuts!”  
  
“Just so long as they aren’t _Dim_ berries.” Cassandra said, prompting the other two to laugh.   
  
Varian hadn’t been there, but he’d heard in a letter about Eugene apparently messing up the goodwill beaver thing by giving the beaver Dimberries instead of Bimberries, which drove the poor creature insane briefly, so he got the joke.  
  
“So, you said you wanted advice?” Varian asked.  
  
“Yeah. Attila has great food, but because he’s so big and always wears that helmet, people are scared of him!” Rapunzel sighed. “I’m just not sure how to help him!”  
  
“Hm...” Varian looked thoughtful, taking a bite of his cupcake.  
  
“Sounds like a problem, for sure.” Cassandra nodded.  
  
“Well, it’s not going to be easy.” Varian said thoughtfully. “For one thing, he has a reputation for being a ruffian. Maybe if he cleaned up his armor, he’d be less scary. I don’t know why he wears the helmet all the time, but I’m sure he’s got his reasons. Other than that, well, he needs to improve his reputation. Between Uncle Monty and a ruffian with a bad rep, who do you think people are going to turn to?”  
  
“Hm…” Rapunzel sighed. “Probably…Uncle Monty.”  
  
“So, maybe if he improved his reputation, he’d have better luck.” Varian reasoned.  
  
“What are you suggesting?” Cassandra asked.  
  
Varian looked thoughtful. “Eugene is pretty well-liked because he saved you, right, Rapunzel?”  
  
“Yeah.” She nodded.  
  
“Well, what if we shared the fact that they helped? What if they got to share in the glory of helping rescue the princess from the evil witch in the tower?” Varian suggested.  
  
“I…” She blinked. “You’re right! People would be _sure_ to be less scared of them if we told them about how they saved Eugene from an unjust execution so he could rescue us from the tower!” She said excitedly.  
  
“I don’t know if going so public with the _details_ of that would be good.” Cassandra said nervously.  
  
“She’s right, better to just say that they helped him free us from the tower.” Varian suggested.  
  
“Oh, alright.” Rapunzel nodded. “Oh, this will be great! I have to go talk to them!” She hugged Varian and Cassandra and then ran out of the room.  
  
“And off she goes, here and gone as fast as that cyclone the other day.” Cassandra said, smiling wryly.  
  
Varian laughed. “That’s normal for her.”  
  
\--  
  
The ruffians agreed to meet with her the next day to announce their involvement in her rescue, though many of them looked unsure. That night, however, something happened.  
  
Uncle Monty’s shop had been attacked, and the biggest evidence was puncture marks from one of Monty’s syrup vats and a recipe stuck to the bottom of Atilla’s foot. Attila was taken to the King who sent him to prison. Rapunzel had begged a chance for him, for her to investigate the matter and find out what really happened; citing something called the “Onus procedendi”.  
  
While Rapunzel went off to do that, Varian decided to go into the dungeon and visit the ruffian baker. “He would _never_ destroy Uncle Monty’s shop.” He murmured. “Rapunzel has to find _some_ evidence it’s not him.”  
  
He passed by the guards and walked up to Attila’s cell. “Hey, Attila.”  
  
“Oh, hey.” He greeted. “I didn’t see you at the opening, were you okay?”  
  
“Meh, I was in trouble for following a creepy guy down an alleyway and later getting kidnapped by said creepy guy and his partner.” Varian shrugged. “Grounded.”  
  
“You _really_ need to stop getting kidnapped.” Attila remarked.  
  
“Yeah…” Varian sighed. “I need to learn how to actually fight. And maybe grow a few feet. I’m too easy to carry off.” He shrugged helplessly and Attila laughed a bit. “Don’t worry, I’m sure that Rapunzel will find a way to prove your innocence.” He assured him.  
  
“I hope so. I…I really want my dream to come true.” Attila said sadly.  
  
Varian nodded. “Yeah, me too. You have the _best_ baking.”  
  
“Aw, you’re just saying that.” Attila reached out a hand and rubbed his head affectionately.  
  
Varian sighed, looking at his chins with a furrowed brow. “What will happen if she doesn’t find proof you’re innocent?”  
  
“Oh, right, you weren’t there. I’ll be exiled to a prison barge in the Lost Sea.” Attila said glumly.  
  
“…What _is_ it with King Fredric and exiling people onto prison barges?” Varian made a face.  
  
“Varian.” Pete the Guard came over to him. “I think it’s been long enough; I’m starting to feel anxious about you being down here, especially with _them_ so close.” He nodded towards the left and Varian looked over to see Andrew giving him a little wave from his cell and Lady Caine glaring from her own.  
  
Varian shivered and nodded. “See you, Attila.”  
  
Attila waved and Varian followed Pete out of the dungeon.  
  
\--  
  
Varian tried to focus on his alchemy. “Tried” being the operative word there. Knowing that Attila might get sent away from something Rapunzel was _sure_ he didn’t do was distracting him.   
  
“I want to go out and help.” He sighed and disposed of what he was working on before cleaning his worktable and equipment. Then he headed out, going to the castle gates.  
  
“Oh, nope.” A guard caught him on his way out. “Sorry, you’re under house arrest, princess’s orders.” He rubbed his head and Varian frowned before heading back in.  
  
\--  
  
Rapunzel came into the bedroom with Eugene around midnight and started setting up some kind of board. “Horns…and the syrup…hm…”  
  
Varian yawned and sat up, rubbing at his eyes. “What are you doin’, ‘Punzel?”  
  
“Oh, did I wake you up?” Rapunzel looked at him. “Sorry, Varian!”  
  
He shrugged and pet Ruddiger, who was curled up next to him. “What’re you doing?”  
  
“Attempting to solve a case. I just can’t figure this out…” Rapunzel sighed.  
  
Varian climbed off the bed, walked over and looked over the clues. “Uhm…”  
  
“Kid, you’re tired.” Eugene nudged him. “Why don’t you go back to sleep, huh? We’ll handle this.”  
  
“I’d be able to help more, if _someone_ didn’t ground me.” Varian huffed.  
  
“Well, then _someone_ shouldn’t have been following potentially-dangerous guys into alleyways and getting himself kidnapped by hot-air balloons.” Rapunzel raised an eyebrow.  
  
“…That’s fair.” Varian looked over the board. “You sure you’ve got this, Rapunzel?”  
  
“I’m sure.” Rapunzel kissed his forehead. “I’ll ask you if I need anything, okay?”  
  
He nodded. “Rapunzel, I learned the next part.”  
  
“Oh? What is it?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“’And let the darkness grow’.” Varian recited.  
  
“Good job.” She smiled. “Now, go on to bed. Sweet dreams.”  
  
He went to bed and climbed under the covers, sighing as they spoke in hushed voices over the board.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Attila is in trouble! Can Rapunzel save him?


	10. 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trial doesn't go so well, but Rapunzel isn't ready to give up yet!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventures (c) Disney

The next morning, Cassandra was feeling well enough to walk around, so they joined Rapunzel and Eugene for the trial.  
  
“I hope this works…” Rapunzel said anxiously as Attila was brought up to the stand.  
  
“Your Majesty, you have seen that the evidence undeniably places blame on Attila. Unless evidence to the contrary comes forth, I see _no_ need to carry on.” The Captain of the Guards said firmly.  
  
“I do! I call to the stand Ms. Hortense Q. Crowley!” Rapunzel declared.  
  
Varian looked around and Cassandra sighed as everyone gave confused murmurs.  
  
“Uh, Blondie, you probably shouldn’t just be making up people. This is a court of law.” Eugene offered helpfully.  
  
Rapunzel groaned. “Ugh _. Old Lady Crowley_?”  
  
“Ohhh!” Everyone around the room said in unison.  
  
“Oh, excellent!” Eugene chimed in.  
  
“No one bothers to remember real names in Corona.” Varian remarked jokingly to Cassandra, speaking quietly.  
  
She nudged him with an amused smile.  
  
An old woman walked into the throne room, grumbling.  
  
“Of course.” The Captain said, looking at her.  
  
\--  
  
“That’s right! I saw Attila that night. He was pickin’ my precious plumbagos.” The old woman declared.  
  
“So, Dad, I think we can all agree that it’s impossible for anyone to be in two places at once.” Rapunzel said smugly. “The defense rests.”  
  
“I just have one question. Old Lady— er, Ms. Crowley, would be so kind as to point to the man you saw picking the flowers?” The Captain asked her.  
  
“Of course I can! That’s him! Right there!” The woman pointed at BigNose angrily.  
  
Rapunzel slumped a bit in disbelief.  
  
“I couldn’t help myself! I’m a sucker for plumbagos!” BigNose started sobbing.  
  
“Ms. Crowley, you told me you saw _Attila_ the other night!” Rapunzel cried, looking at her.  
  
“That’s not him?” She asked, and Rapunzel shook her head. “How should I know? Those boys all look the same!”  
  
“Sure, if you’re _blind._ ” Varian muttered.  
  
The old woman left and Rapunzel looked Attila sadly.  
  
“Then, I am afraid I have no choice. Attila will be exiled to the Prison Barge of the Lost Sea.” King Fredric announced.  
  
The guards took Attila away. Rapunzel ran after him. “Attila! I’m so sorry!” She cried.  
  
Varian frowned and stormed up to King Fredric, surprising everyone. “Is THAT how you treat someone who saved your daughter?! You think Eugene acted alone?! If it wasn’t for him and the others, Eugene would be dead, BY YOUR ORDER, and Rapunzel and I would still be Gothel’s slaves!”  
  
“Varian, stand down.” Queen Arianna said gently.  
  
“NO!” He threw his hand out. “Attila is a good person and you’re not being fair to him! You gave Rapunzel twenty-four hours to find clues, twenty-four hours she had to practically _beg_ you for, all because you aren’t just content with locking him away? Why is LADY CAINE in the dungeon, but you’re sending Attila away on a BARGE?!”  
  
King Fredric sighed. “My decision is final. Everyone is dismissed.”  
  
Varian fumed and stormed out, Cassandra, Eugene and Rapunzel following him.  
  
\--  
  
The lunch table had a very awkward air. Rapunzel was on the verge of crying, Varian was stabbing his food aggressively but not taking a bite, King Fredric was avoiding eye-contact with either of them and Queen Arianna was looking exasperated with all of it. Cassandra stood nearby Rapunzel’s chair, dressed in a new uniform.  
  
“Raps…you gotta eat.” Cassandra said gently.  
  
“How can I? Right now, Attila is being put on a ship that will take him away forever.” Rapunzel said glumly.  
  
“Look, Blondie,” Eugene started, the only one whose appetite hadn’t been affected, apparently, “I know you try to see the best in everyone, and I think that’s great. But sometimes, you know, people let you down. Not us, but other…” he belched loudly, “people.”  
  
Cassandra made a face. “Ugh, you stink.”  
  
Rapunzel gasped and sat up straighter. “Stink! That’s it!”  
  
“What’s it?” Varian asked as she got up. He got out of his chair and followed her out.  
  
“Come on!” She climbed onto Maximus and helped Varian climb up behind her before they took off running for the docks.  
  
Varian hung on around her waist as she spurred Max on. “What’s going on, Rapunzel?”  
  
“I’ll explain later!” She told him.  
  
“Okay, then.” He shrugged.  
  
They spotted the boat and Attila being walked onto it in chains.  
  
“Wait!” Rapunzel called. “Don’t leave!”  
  
The boat started to move and Varian untied Rapunzel’s hair for her before she jumped off and used it to lasso the boat. Then Varian and Maximus helped her slowly pull it back to the dock with her hair.  
  
“We can do it, guys!” She encouraged as the current did a tug-of-war with her.  
  
“Princess, we’ve been through this.” The Captain said, walking up to them.  
  
“I’m sorry, captain, but we’re making a _huge_ mistake! I just want _one_ more chance, _please_!” Rapunzel begged.  
  
The Captain relented and helped them pull the ship back before they tied it to the dock, one of the other thugs, who was perpetually drunk, cheering them on.  
  
“You have two minutes.” The Captain said firmly.  
  
“That’s all I need. Captain, Attila did not break into Monty’s that night.” Rapunzel insisted.  
  
“Okay, so who did?” The Captain asked.  
  
“No one.” Rapunzel smiled.  
  
“Huh?” The Captain and Varian both looked confused.  
  
“Let me explain. Something bothered me about the broken pieces of the door all over the sidewalk. Why would they be outside and not inside? It was like someone didn’t break _into_ Monty’s shop. More like, they broke out.” Rapunzel explained.  
  
“That doesn’t make any sense.” The Captain frowned.  
  
“Yeah, I didn’t think so either, until I noticed that the door had a _bell_.” Rapunzel said eagerly.  
  
“A bell? Princess, where is this going?” The Captain frowned.  
  
“I believe I can answer that!” The drunken thug said, walking over to them. Eugene was right behind him and Cassandra a few paces behind.  
  
“Great, who’s next? The mime?” The Captain scoffed.  
  
Varian frowned. “Hear him out.”  
  
“Two words, Admiral, sugar fairies.” The old man slurred.  
  
“Sugar fairies?” Varian asked, confused.  
  
“I remember BigNose talking about those! He said that Monty’s candy was like sugar fairies descended from the heavens.” Rapunzel said thoughtfully.  
  
“Yeah, and I once leant a walnut to a sugar fairy, but she didn’t return it. So, I figured Monty’s sugar fairies might know how I could get it back. ‘Course, it was about then, I remembered it wasn’t a sugar fairy that borrowed my walnut. It was a squirrel. And he returned it two weeks ago. Then, while we were in there, we got hungry. So, we ate. After our snack, Milton thought it would be prudent to take a nap. I wholeheartedly concurred.”  
  
“Milton?” Varian asked.  
  
“His pet goat.” Rapunzel offered helpfully.  
  
“Goat?” Varian looked around.  
  
“But then, the bell rang.” The old man said ominously.  
  
“I’m still confused about the bell.” Varian looked at her.  
  
“When a bell rings near Milton, he goes…kind of berserk. Runs around like crazy.” Rapunzel explained.  
  
“Ohh. Like a beaver on Dimberries.” Varian compared. Rapunzel nodded.  
  
“Luckily, I recalled Rapunzel’s advice earlier and sought higher ground, where I resumed the aforementioned nap.” The drunk went on.  
  
“Oh, no _wonder_ the shop smelled so bad!” Eugene stated.  
  
“I object!” The drunk said, then sniffed his armpit and groaned. “Oh, withdrawn.”  
  
“So, the goat obliterated the door from the inside? And where is this goat now?” The Captain asked.  
  
“Oh… probably not too far. Never is.” The drunk whistled. “Goat!”  
  
“You see, Captain. It wasn’t Attila’s _helmet_ that punctured Monty’s chocolate drum. It was Milton’s horns!” Rapunzel told him.  
  
“Mmm. I _love_ me some goat.” The drunk started licking the goat’s horns.  
  
“Then, why did we find stolen recipes on Attila’s boot?” The Captain demanded.  
  
Rapunzel laughed a bit. “Those recipes got tossed all over. Even onto the sidewalk. Attila must’ve stepped on one, just like Pascal did and then it came unstuck back at his bakery.” She rubbed her ever-constant chameleon’s head affectionately as she spoke and he let out a happy little chirrup.  
  
“That’s a bit of a stretch.” The Captain frowned.  
  
“Everyone who was near the scene of the crime, check your boots.” Rapunzel looked at Eugene and the Captain.  
  
Eugene checked his and found a recipe stuck to the bottom of his boot. Rapunzel gave the Captain a pointed look and he sighed, lifting his boot. Sure enough, he had one too.  
  
“Uh, clearly there’s been a mistake.” He said awkwardly. “Attila, you’re free to go.”  
  
The other guards that weren’t there at the time unlocked Attila’s cuffs and then Varian threw his arms around him in a hug. The ex-ruffian rubbed his head affectionately.  
  
“Now we just have to tell this to the King.” Eugene commented.  
  
“I’ll…handle that.” The Captain said awkwardly. “You go take Attila home.” He looked at Cassandra. “Are you feeling alright?”  
  
“I’m already getting better.” She assured him. “I’ll be back on my feet full-time in no time.”  
  
“Well, make sure you get more rest.” He nodded firmly.  
  
\--  
  
“I can’t thank you enough, Princess. Almost everyone gave up on me, except you.” Attila said as they walked him home.  
  
“Well, not _everyone_. Eugene and Varian stood by you, too.” Rapunzel smiled.  
  
“I _really_ think we need to go properly public with their involvement now.” Varian remarked. “You know, besides me yelling about it in the throne room.”  
  
Cassandra laughed. “That…was a surprise, not gonna lie.”  
  
“Attila, can I ask you… where _were_ you that night anyway?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“You won’t tell?” Attila asked, looking at them all.  
  
They shook their heads.  
  
“Okay. I was afraid Attila the Bun was a mistake. I don’t know nuthin’ about runnin’ a business, Princess. I just wanna bake. That’s my dream. But everyone was so proud, and I didn’t wanna let anyone down…” He sighed glumly. “So, sometimes, when I get stressed, I sneak out to my bimberry patch in the woods and I sing to them.”  
  
“Well, your secret is safe with me. It’s just too bad about the business part. if only there were someone in Corona who could help out with that.” Rapunzel looked thoughtful, then gasped. “Hmm. I know just the person!”  
  
\--  
  
The next day, Rapunzel held up giant scissors to cut the ribbon from in front of Monty’s repaired _Sweet Shoppe_. “And it is with great pleasure I reintroduce to you Monty’s _Sweet Shoppe_ with Pastries by Attila!” She said, cutting the ribbon.  
  
Attila and Monty shook hands and the crowd clapped.  
  
“Here, Monty, I tracked down all you recipes for you.” Attila handed them to him. Monty inspected them with a frown. “Wait, are you still upset?”  
  
“Oh, no, son. It’s these silly glasses I’m always forgetting to put on.” Monty said, putting them on.  
  
Rapunzel giggled a bit, happy to see them so happy together.  
  
\--  
  
“Fine.” King Fredric sighed. “I will clear them of their past wrongdoings, since they seem to have given up their lives of crime entirely and remove the wanted posters.”  
  
“Thank you. Now, on the matter of the people in the dungeon?” Varian asked. Rapunzel gently took his hand comfortingly.  
  
“They don’t have records – aside from the Stabbingtons.” King Fredric told them. “Frankly, I _should_ be deporting Andrew of Saporia back to wherever he came from, but that’s exactly what he _wants_.”  
  
“It’s easier to keep an eye on them where they are.” The Captain explained. “The last thing we want is people like that going on the prison barge and inciting a riot.”  
  
“just stay out of the dungeons and you won’t have to worry about them.” Queen Arianna assured them both.  
  
Varian sighed. “’Kay.”  
  
Rapunzel kissed his head gently. “Come on, let’s go tell the guys the good news, hm?”  
  
Varian nodded and then they walked away together as the Captain walked off to go arrange the wiping of their records.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Varian and Rapunzel WILL NOT stand for injustice!


	11. 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel and Varian are kept too busy to spend time with Pascal and he's glum about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney
> 
> ((A/N: Featuring special guest Princess Nuru!))

Pascal was feeling gloomy today. Rapunzel was busy with her princess things and Varian was busy learning how to fight from Cassandra. And earlier, he’d tried to do things they used to do in the tower together, but Eugene and Cassandra had distracted the two of them again. It was like they never had time for him anymore.  
  
Ruddiger seemed to sense his distress and nuzzled him before going over and walking around Varian’s legs, startling him. “Whoa! Ruddiger?” He looked down in surprise, then gasped and blocked Cassandra’s sword.   
  
“Careful not to get distracted in battle.” She teased.  
  
Ruddiger tugged on his pant leg and he lowered his sword. “Cass, I think he needs me for something.”  
  
“Oh, alright.” Cassandra sheathed her sword and Varian handed back the training one before he followed Ruddiger over to where Pascal was sitting, his entire body blue.   
  
“Hey, Pascal.” He sat down next to the chameleon, who climbed up into his lap. “What’s the matter, buddy?” He stroked his back. “Rapunzel couldn’t bring you with her?”  
  
Pascal let out a sad sigh and climbed up his arm and sat on his shoulder. He smiled sympathetically.  
  
“What’s up with the lizard?” Cassandra asked, walking over and sitting next to him.  
  
“I think he misses Rapunzel. She’s out with her parents surveying the kingdom right now.” Varian rubbed the chameleon’s head affectionately. “Me too, buddy. It’s not easy adjusting to her new life, is it?”  
  
Pascal nuzzled his hand and looked up at him meaningfully. Cassandra cleared her throat, catching Varian’s attention. “Well, she’ll be back later.” She reminded them. “Right now, though, _you_ were in the middle of your training. So, unless it’s something _urgent_ …”  
  
“She’s right. Sorry, Pascal.” He gently took him off his shoulder and set him next to Ruddiger. “Why don’t you spend some time with Ruddiger while I train? We can play later.” He got up and followed Cassandra over, accepting the training sword again.  
  
“Now, when fighting, you need to be aware of your surroundings. If you were, you wouldn’t have been distracted and surprised by your raccoon just now.” Cassandra scolded him good-naturedly.  
  
“Right. Don’t want to get grabbed from behind.” Varian nodded.  
  
“Exactly. Now, why don’t you show me what you’ve learned so far?” Cassandra asked.  
  
Pascal sighed and curled up on top of Ruddiger to watch them train.  
  
\--  
  
“Phew, that was…fun! And also kind of…unsettling.” Rapunzel said when she left her parents’ sides.  
  
“Black rocks?” Varian asked.  
  
“Yeah. They’ve moved away from the wall, Varian.” Rapunzel looked worried. “I don’t know what we’re going to do…”  
  
“Panic? That’s pretty much been my go-to.” Varian said with a helpless shrug.  
  
Pascal caught their attention by running up and climbing up Rapunzel’s hair to sit on her shoulder. “Oh, Pascal!” Rapunzel said in surprise.  
  
“I think he’s been missing you today.” Varian smiled.  
  
“Oh, Pascal…I want to play, but I actually need to wash up and change my dress now.” Rapunzel said apologetically. “One of the guests at today’s dinner party is allergic to lizards.”  
  
“Is that today?” Varian winced. “I gotta wear that stuffy outfit again?”  
  
“Sorry!” Rapunzel laughed. “I _did_ try to talk my father out of it, but he said that since you were _practically royalty,_ being my adopted brother, that people would question the fact you were missing.”  
  
“I’d rather be in my lab all night than have to endure those people.” Varian said flatly. “Heck, I’d rather go hang out with the black rocks.”  
  
Rapunzel smiled sympathetically. “I could lie that you’re sick?”  
  
“Could you?” He pleaded.  
  
“Come on, you two.” Cassandra walked up to them. “Time to get ready, the guests will be here soon.”  
  
“Nooooo.” Varian despaired as she led them along.  
  
“Speaking of the black rocks,” Rapunzel asked as they went to their room, “any word from your dad?”  
  
“I sent him a message with Owl earlier. He hasn’t replied yet.” Varian shrugged.  
  
“Well, we’ll hear from him soon, I bet.” Rapunzel nudged him. “Maybe after the dinner.”  
  
“Cass, do I _have_ to go?” Varian asked.  
  
“You have made yourself enough of a prominent presence in the royal family that it would be _rude_ not to.” Cassandra informed him.  
  
They reached the bedroom and Pascal was set down where Ruddiger was napping and Cassandra took Rapunzel to wash up, untying her braid as she went. “Don’t go anywhere, Varian, I _will_ call backup.”  
  
Varian sighed heavily and looked at Pascal. “Things used to be so simple, huh?”  
  
Pascal nodded.  
  
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, I _like_ it here, and in Old Corona. And I’m glad to be out of the tower. It was just…simpler there.” He sighed. “Simpler in Old Corona, too. Just…black rocks everywhere.”  
  
He got up and went to stand on the balcony, Pascal following him to sit on the railing he leaned against. His gaze was distant, his expression unreadable and his thoughts his own. Pascal tilted his head and rubbed against his glove comfortingly.  
  
“I wouldn’t trade my captivity for anything…but, sometimes it just feels like I’m still in the tower with all the rules and regulations in here…you know?” He smiled at him, but it was forced, Pascal could tell.  
  
Before long, Cassandra was coming with some more maids to get Varian to wash him up and dress him for the dinner and Pascal watched as he was handed off to the maids while Cassandra went to help Rapunzel into her fancy dress and brush and style her hair.  
  
He sighed sadly, knowing he wouldn’t be able to touch either of his kids until they were done with the stupid dinner party, and climbed down off the railing to try playing cards with Ruddiger, the only one who seemed to have time for him anymore.  
  
\--  
  
“Eugene!” Rapunzel hissed quietly. “Why is he your friend Lance in the castle when there’s a fancy dinner party about to happen?”  
  
Varian looked at the stranger with Eugene from behind Rapunzel. The tall, dark-skinned man noticed him and waved and Varian narrowed his eyes, unsure.  
  
“Come on, Blondie, I _promise_ he’ll be on his best behavior.” Eugene insisted.  
  
“He’s _not_ coming to the party.” Cassandra said with an annoyed expression.  
  
“Oh, and you are?” Eugene asked her.  
  
“Yes, as an _attendant_.” She stressed, gesturing to her uniform. “Your friend here is—oh, Varian, you don’t know him yet, do you?”  
  
“Rapunzel wrote about him. Lance Strongbow, Eugene’s friend from the orphanage.” Varian said, looking at the man. “Right?”  
  
“That’s right!” Lance grinned. “So, you know me, but I don’t know you. Who’s this little guy?”  
  
“This is Varian.” Rapunzel moved him forward and placed her hands on his shoulders. “We were in the tower together, he’s basically my little brother.”  
  
“Tower? Ohhh, right. The one you rescued her from.” He looked at Eugene, who nodded. “How come you never mentioned the kid?”  
  
“Because you would’ve asked to _meet_ him and he was with his dad in Old Corona.” Eugene rolled his eyes.  
  
“Oh. Why aren’t you there now?” Lance asked.  
  
“Princess, the time.” Cassandra said, ushering Rapunzel and Varian along.  
  
“We’ll see you after the party, then!” Lance called.  
  
“Uh, Lance? I’m going, too. Princess’s boyfriend.” Eugene told him, following them and gesturing to his fancy outfit.  
  
“Oh. Well, I’ll find _something_ to occupy myself with.” Lance shrugged.  
  
“If you steal anything, you’re going to be staying in the dungeon with the terrorists and kidnappers.” Varian told him over his shoulder.  
  
“Ohh, not good company.” Lance clicked his tongue. “I’ll behave!”  
  
“You better!” Cassandra called back.  
  
Rapunzel giggled and took Eugene’s hand as they walked around the corner.  
  
\--  
  
Varian kept mostly quiet during the party unless directly addressed and spent most of it listening closely to conversations and watching for anyone suspicious among the guests. While everyone clearly had some kind of ulterior motive, which he was finding lots of royalty and nobility did, no one seemed to be a criminal in disguise and after determining this he actually let himself relax a little.  
  
“…spreading out _everywhere_ , it’s _quite_ dreadful.” He heard someone saying.  
  
“Yes, we just don’t know what to _do_ about it. Nothing seems to be working to destroy the black rocks.” Someone else said in reply, and he looked over silently.  
  
“Does anyone even know what they _are_?” The first one asked.  
  
“No, but I did see a few in the city when I was coming in.”  
  
“Wasn’t there also one in the throne room?”  
  
“Goodness, they just seem to be popping up everywhere. We’ll just have to adjust, I suppose. They don’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.”  
  
‘The black rocks seem to be spreading out to the other kingdoms. I thought it was just a straight shot from the Dark Kingdom to Corona.’ Varian thought. ‘Why spread out? What is the Moonstone’s goal?’  
  
“You look about as bored as I feel.”  
  
He blinked in surprise and looked at a dark-skinned girl a little younger than him. He ran the names and faces of the guests in his head until he hit on this one. “Princess Nuru.” He greeted.  
  
“Oh, you remembered.” She nodded. “Your name was…Varian, correct?”  
  
He nodded. “I’m not bored, I’m concentrating.” He admitted.  
  
“On what, if I may ask?” She asked, accepting a drink from a passing attendant. Varian took one from the tray as well.   
  
“I’m listening for nefarious plots.” He sniffed at the drink before taking a sip.  
  
“Oh, right. I have heard that you are Princess Rapunzel’s ‘eyes and ears’.” Nuru said thoughtfully.  
  
“Yeah, but not so good at taking action.” He shrugged. “Both times I’ve tried, I got in trouble.”  
  
“Did you get out of it alright?” She gasped.  
  
He nodded. “Yeah, I managed.”  
  
“Oh, good.” She nodded.  
  
“Yeah. So, I listen for anything suspicious, report back to her, and she handles it from there.” Varian shrugged and took another sip of his drink.  
  
“That’s impressive!” She praised. “Does Corona have much trouble?”  
  
“Probably no more or less than any other kingdom.” He replied vaguely.  
  
“Varian!” Rapunzel called to him.   
  
“Excuse me, Your Highness.” He nodded politely to Princess Nuru and walked off to join her.  
  
“Aw, did Varian find a lady-friend?” Eugene asked teasingly when he joined them.  
  
“Have some respect, that’s Princess Nuru.” Cassandra hissed.  
  
“Yeah, let’s pretend I have _any_ idea who these people are.” Eugene shrugged.  
  
“Are you having a good time, Varian?” Rapunzel smiled.  
  
“Meh, it’s not _terrible_.” He shrugged and she giggled. “Okay, so I can’t wait to get out of this annoying jacket.”  
  
“Hang in there, just a four more hours of hobnobbing and schmoozing.” Cassandra patted his shoulder.  
  
Varian groaned and they laughed.  
  
\--  
  
When they finally left the party and were able to change into their nightclothes, they found Pascal and Ruddiger had occupied their pillows. They smiled and climbed onto the bed to curled up together next to their beloved pets. He looked over at the empty balcony and wondered when Owl was coming back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If only things were simpler.


	12. 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Pascal's attempt to make his kids dinner is foiled by a greedy thief, Pascal decides he's had enough and returns to the tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

The next morning, Pascal decided to wake them up early and right away started to try to get them to play. Unfortunately, they got as far as Pascal and Varian brushing Rapunzel’s long hair together before Cassandra was coming in.  
  
“Oh good, you’re up. Saves me some trouble. Let’s get you washed up and dressed for the day. You first, Rapunzel.” Cassandra said, taking her arm and leading her away.  
  
Pascal let out a sound of protest.  
  
Varian noticed Owl coming back and walked over to receive the letter. “Listen to this, Pascal. ‘I am glad to hear that you’re doing alright over there, but please do not deliberately put yourself in danger like that again. Unfortunately, I am not making much progress on the black rocks on my own. Do you think you could think up a formula for me to try? I’ll keep experimenting while you think of something, maybe I’ll touch on a miracle. Be safe, and I’m proud of you for all you’re doing. Remember to get some proper sleep, I’ll see you when I’ve solved this problem. Love, dad.’ I guess he doesn’t want me going back until then…”  
  
He folded it up and went to his desk to start writing out a reply. Pascal climbed up onto the desk and watched as he wrote, looking at his grim expression with a concerned chirrup. He placed his claws on Varian’s hand and he looked at him briefly before going back to his letter.  
  
“I’m okay, Pascal.” He said, writing about the black rocks spreading out to other Kingdoms. “I’m just…the situation isn’t looking good.”  
  
By the time he finished and sent it off with Owl, Cassandra was back with Rapunzel and Varian was hauled off for his bath and change of clothes.  
  
“Did Owl come back?” Rapunzel asked as he passed her.  
  
“Uh-huh. Already sent a reply. His letter’s on the desk.” He told her before the door closed.  
  
Rapunzel went over to read it. Pascal chirruped to her and she smiled at him before looking over the letter.  
  
“Hold still, Raps.” Cassandra said as she brushed and styled her hair.  
  
“So, what are we doing today?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“Your parents want you to try taking audience today. I figured you could use Varian as your advisor, you and Nigel don’t seem to click.” Cassandra said sympathetically.  
  
“Yeah, he doesn’t seem to like Varian, either.” Rapunzel nodded. “Especially after his outburst at the trial.”  
  
“’The utter disrespect’!” Cassandra said mockingly, and they both laughed.  
  
Pascal sighed, watching them longingly.  
  
Varian was brought back and his hair styled by Cassandra and then they all headed out together for breakfast. Ruddiger gave Pascal a sympathetic look and offered him a grape.  
  
\--  
  
Pascal decided to surprise his kids with a special dinner in their bedroom and sat waiting anxiously as it got closer and closer to bedtime for them to return. When the door opened, his eyes lit up but it wasn’t either of them – it was Eugene’s thief friend. Frowning, he turned red and Ruddiger started hissing, moving closer to the guy ready to attack.  
  
“Whoa, hold on! I’m not dangerous!” Lance said, holding up his hands. “I’m just taking a little look-see around—AGH!” He cried out when Ruddiger sank his teeth into his leg. “Geez!” He kicked him off and Ruddiger hit the floor, then started hissing again.  
  
“Wow, I have _never_ seen a raccoon act like you are right now.” Lance mused, kneeling to rub at where the beast had bit him. “Sure hope you aren’t infected with anything, but I’m sure the kid makes sure you’re healthy.”  
  
Pascal moved towards the man in a threatening way. Lance spotted the food and grinned. “Aw, look at that! Looks delicious!” He started to move around them.  
  
Ruddiger ran over to the food and hissed at him again, Pascal joining him quickly.  
  
“Wow, you’re protective. And fast.” Lance remarked. “I’m just gonna have a bite…or a hundred.” He chuckled. “Man, does that look deeeelish.” He grabbed a pillow-case and used it to grab Ruddiger, then trapped Pascal under a glass as he leaned on the struggling raccoon. “Relax, it’s just food!” He chuckled, starting to dig in. “I’m sure whoever this is for,” as if he didn’t _know_ , “is already eating something else right now. Oh, wow, this is some good stuff. Did you make this? Seems it would’ve gone to waste if I didn’t come along.” He licked his lips, then shifted to keep the raccoon in the pillowcase. “Hey, don’t get mad at me. Maybe you should be mad at _them_ for being late.”  
  
He finished and got up, letting go of the pillowcase. Ruddiger slammed him to the floor and he wrestled with him for a bit before getting up, rubbing at the scratch-marks on his cheek, before escaping the room.  
  
Pascal looked at the devoured food and sighed. Ruddiger patted his back soothingly and then went to get Rapunzel’s drawing supplies to start messily drawing the culprit. While he was doing that, Pascal was looking at a button sadly before he slipped out of the room silently.  
  
\--  
  
“Pascal?!” Rapunzel looked around the room anxiously as Varian looked at Ruddiger’s drawing and listened to him chitter on about what had happened while he was away. He sighed and got up, going to his alchemy bag. “Varian, I can’t find Pascal!” She turned to him, then gasped and picked up a button on the floor. “Oh no…”  
  
“What is it?” He asked, turning to her.  
  
“This button…it’s the very first gift I gave Pascal at the tower. He’s probably been feeling so lonely with us both being busy…” She looked at him. “I think I know where he went!”  
  
“Then, we better hurry.” Varian nodded firmly. “The guards won’t let us go out this late, though.”  
  
“Good thing I have some experience with escaping from towers, then.” She said slyly, going to the balcony to hook her hair to the balcony. “Let’s go.”  
  
He nodded, heading over to her. Ruddiger climbed onto his shoulders and then he held onto her as she used her hair to swing them out and down to a lower roof. Once out, they leapt from roof to roof until they found the guarded bridge, where Varian sneakily slipped a sleeping bomb their way before they ran off into the woods together.  
  
“We’re going to be in _so_ much trouble if we’re not back before they check on us in a half-hour.” He told her.  
  
“For Pascal, it’s worth it.” She said firmly, leading the way back to their old “home”.  
  
\--  
  
The tower was just as intimidating in the night as it was during the day – maybe more-so. Ruddiger looked at his boy with concern as he stopped short and clutched at his bag anxiously. Rapunzel threw her hair up to the pulley system they’d used so often to let Gothel up and down and Varian numbly walked over to kneel next to a dress and cloak on the ground, left behind when they escaped and abandoned for so long after.  
  
“…I hate to say it…but she was _right_.” He said softly. “She _was_ protecting us.” He picked up the cloak and held it close. “The Moonstone would _never_ have found me if I didn’t leave the tower.”  
  
“Varian…” She looked at him sympathetically.  
  
“And now we have black rocks spreading out everywhere; here, other kingdoms, and the nightmares won’t stop, _the Moonstone won’t stop_.” He buried his face in the cloth, his breath hitching. “We should _never_ have gone out there that day.”  
  
She walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Varian…”  
  
He turned and clung to her, a sob escaping his lips. “The Moonstone took my mother away from me! What if it takes my father, too?!”  
  
She rubbed his back soothingly. “What do you mean?”  
  
“My mother left to try to find out what was going on with my powers, why I _had_ them, when I was only a baby. That was years before Gothel took me. Half a year after she left, her partner came back alone and gave us her goggles and gloves, the only thing she could salvage.” Varian sniffled. “The Moonstone took her away from me because I was born with its powers, and now my father is trying to find a way to stop the black rocks from advancing!”  
  
“Varian…” She gasped when she heard a screech of terror. “Pascal!” She said, and they broke the hug to use her hair and get up into the tower, where they found Pascal lying on floor in front of a white snake. Rapunzel charged at the creature and used her frying pan to knock it out while Varian ran to check on Pascal.  
  
“He’s been poisoned.” He realized, then pulled out a vial and moved to the dazed snake, roughly gripping its head to force it to let out its toxin into the vial. Then he set to work with his carry-on alchemy kit that Xavier the blacksmith had given him and started to make an antidote quickly.  
  
“Pascal…” Rapunzel whimpered, holding her friend close. Ruddiger hissed at the snake and swatted at it with his paw, but the thing was already out between being hit by the frying pan and roughly man-handled by Varian.  
  
“When this happened before, I used my healing powers to save his life. He was only a baby then, and I took care of him from then on.” Rapunzel explained softly. “He’s been there for me for so long, but I’ve been too busy for him.”  
  
“At least he has Ruddiger now.” Varian said as the raccoon placed a comforting hand on Pascal’s back. “Alright, this should do it.” He came over to Pascal and carefully used a dropper to empty some of the contents into his mouth. “Come on, Pascal…swallow for me.” He pleaded.  
  
Pascal weakly swallowed and then curled up in Rapunzel’s palm with a pained chirp. Varian looked at him anxiously, then breathed out a sigh of relief when the chameleon’s breathing steadied and his complexion improved. “Hey, buddy.”  
  
“Pascal?” Rapunzel gently stroked his back. He nuzzled her hand and let out a happy, though still weak, chirrup.  
  
“It’s not instant, but it’s working. Might take a few doses.” He put a lid on the vial with the antidote and put it in his bag before going to clean up his alchemy kit.  
  
Ruddiger nuzzled his little friend soothingly. Pascal nuzzled him back before curling up and closing his eyes with a yawn.  
  
“I’ll give him some more in a few hours.” Varian said softly. “We should get back home.”  
  
“Home”. The word, spoken in their old place of confinement, felt strange. Some part of them yearned to be back here, where things were simpler and they didn’t have to worry about black rocks or princess duties and their biggest concern was Gothel’s terrible sense of humor.  
  
“…Is it…weird that I miss her?” Rapunzel asked shakily.  
  
Varian shook his head, looking at the cloak he’d accidentally brought up with them. “No…I miss her, too.”  
  
She sniffled. “She was…my _mother_ for so long…she _raised_ me… _protected_ me…and I…I killed her…”  
  
“You didn’t kill her. Her dependence on the flower did. As soon as your hair lost its magic, and she was hanging onto it, the power in her body was ripped out of her at a rapid pace and she aged so much she turned into dust.” Varian explained. “She should never have been able to live so long.”  
  
“Rapunzel! Varian?!”  
  
They looked up, hearing Eugene calling for them, and Varian got up to walk over and look out the window. “Eugene, how’d you know we were here?” He asked.  
  
“Uh, I didn’t. Max followed your scent back here.” Eugene gestured to the horse, who was trying to find out how to climb up the tower. “What are you two _doing_ up there? Cassandra is _freaking out_. Not to mention the _King_.”  
  
“Pascal came back here because he was lonely. We came to find him.” Varian explained. “He’s hurt.”  
  
“Hurt?” Eugene frowned.  
  
“Yeah.” Varian nodded. “A snake bit him. I made an antidote, but it’s going to take a few doses to completely heal him.”  
  
“Well, can you give it to him back at the castle?” Eugene asked.  
  
Varian looked at Rapunzel, who was coming over to the window. He went to his bag and put away the kit before he went down on her hair with Ruddiger hitching a ride on his shoulders. Then Rapunzel came down and they stood silently, looking up at the tower, before climbing onto Maximus together. Eugene stayed on foot, walking alongside the horse as they took their wayward charges back home.  
  
Varian and Rapunzel looked over their shoulders at the tower before Rapunzel looked forward and held Pascal close to her chest in her hands. Varian clutched the cloak he’d picked up earlier in his arms, unsure why he couldn’t let it go.  
  
‘Maybe I should have talked to her more about the Moonstone…maybe learned that spell she knew. If I hadn’t been so set on making her miserable, so single-minded on the black rocks my anger summoned…’ He thought glumly.  
  
“So…uhm, we caught Lance in your lab, Varian. He said he was looking for you, and I shooed him out after making sure he didn’t take anything.” Eugene said, distracting him from his thoughts.  
  
“Where is he now?” Varian asked.  
  
“Kicked him out of the castle.” Eugene sighed. “He’s my friend, but he can be kind of a jerk.”  
  
Varian silently took out the picture Ruddiger drew and handed it to him. “He was in our room, probably said something that made Pascal run away. It’s _his_ fault we’re out here.”  
  
Eugene’s shoulders slumped. “…I’ll talk to him.” He promised.  
  
“Do more than _talk_. If he comes into our room again, I’m putting him in goo.” Varian said aggressively.  
  
“…Noted.” Eugene handed the drawing back. “Uh, who drew that?”  
  
“Ruddiger.” Varian rubbed his pet’s head affectionately.  
  
“He’s a good artist.” Eugene nodded.  
  
Rapunzel smiled a bit at the conversation, but it was clear that she was too worried to really cheer up.  
  
\--  
  
King Fredric wasn’t happy, of course, but he was understanding when Varian explained the situation and told Eugene in _no uncertain terms_ that if Lance caused trouble _again_ , he’d be going to stay in the dungeon for a few days.  
  
Rapunzel and Varian didn’t sleep that night, Rapunzel worrying over her friend and doing what she could to soothe him and Varian keeping himself up to administer the antidote. When Pascal finally seemed to be completely better, they finally let themselves fall asleep, curled up with Ruddiger and Pascal between them.  
  
Cassandra gently pulled the blanket over them and sighed before going to put Varian’s bag away. The cloak slipped from where it was draped over the chair he’d set it on and she knelt down to pick it up, her brow furrowing.  
  
Something about it seemed…familiar.  
  
“They finally asleep?” Eugene asked, looking into the room.  
  
“Mmhm.” Cassandra sighed. “Which means _I_ can finally sleep.” She walked over to the door and looked over at the bed before stepping out and closing the door behind her. “Where were they?”  
  
“The tower I rescued them from.” Eugene said grimly. “It was…scary, seeing them up there again.”  
  
Cassandra nodded. “So, that cloak…”  
  
“It was _hers_.” Eugene sighed. “It bugs me that the kid was clinging to it all the way back.”  
  
Cassandra looked back at the bedroom. “…Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Varian is NOT happy with a certain thief right now.


	13. 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance wants Varian's help. Varian and Cassandra go with him to find out what he needs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

Lance hummed to himself as he strolled down the street. He swiped something from a stall as he passed it and then gasped when it was suddenly gone from his hand in a gray blur. “What the—” A cloud of pink smoke suddenly went off and he blinked in disbelief before looking down to see he was encased in some kind of pink substance. “Uhh…”  
  
“Eugene said you were _looking for me_?” He looked up and saw Varian standing in front of him, a guard not too far away putting back the item he’d swiped. “Thanks for invading my room and attacking my raccoon, by the way. Real nice.”  
  
“Eh, your raccoon is too sensitive.” Lance said, then gasped when said critter came out from behind Varian and hissed at him. “Oh boy.”  
  
“Calm down, Ruddiger.” Varian said, then looked back up at Lance. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”  
  
Lance looked a bit nervous. “Uh…can we talk somewhere else?”  
  
Varian raised an eyebrow. “The dungeon has a cell with your name on it if you cause any more trouble.”  
  
“Uh, _wow_ , okay…” He squirmed a bit. “What… _is_ this stuff?” He asked.  
  
“It’s an alchemical solution that starts off liquid and hardens to trap something inside it. I call it ‘goo’.” Varian explained casually.  
  
Lance glanced around, seeing people starting to whisper and laugh at his trapped state. “…You know, the dungeon cell sounds better.”  
  
“Relax,” Varian pulled out a vial and dissolved the goo, “you’re only going there if you cause trouble. You wanted to talk? Let’s go to my lab. Pete?” He looked over at the guard, who came over to them. “Hope you don’t mind the escort, Lance.”  
  
Lance smiled awkwardly. “Right. To your lab, then.”  
  
\--  
  
“I need your help with something.” Lance said once they were in his lab, Pete the Guard watching closely and Ruddiger poised to strike at the slightest threat to his boy.  
  
“My help?” Varian asked.  
  
“Yes. I’ve heard of your, uh, magic potions—”  
  
“Alchemy.” Varian corrected.  
  
“Yeah, that. And, see, I have a problem. I’m trying to go straight, really, I am. But, when I was on to the way to return something I stole, it got stolen by someone else by these guys that jumped me. I know where they are, but it’s too dangerous for me to go in there. Alone, that is.” Lance explained.  
  
“Why don’t we just send the Royal Guard?” Varian suggested.  
  
“Because if the guy that stole from me finds out I told the Royal Guard where he is, I’m _dead_.” Lance grabbed Varian’s arms and Ruddiger hissed while Pete’s hand went to his sword. “So, I _can’t_ involve the guards. That’s why I thought I could ask you for help and you could use your alchemy stuff.”  
  
“And you _honestly_ think that I’d be allowed to go _anywhere_ with you without a guard?” Varian raised an eyebrow, holding out a hand to calm Ruddiger before pushing Lance’s hands off his arms, shaking his head at Pete.  
  
Lance whimpered. “Pleeeease…Eugene already said he’d never help me again and I can’t go alone!”  
  
Varian sighed. “I have to talk to my sister about this.”  
  
“Uh, does the Princess _have_ to know?” Lance asked.  
  
“I’m not going _anywhere_ without her knowing, guard or not. Otherwise, you’d be arrested as soon as we got back.” Varian headed for the door. “Come on, let’s go talk to her.”  
  
\--  
  
Rapunzel, of course, _wasn’t_ okay with Varian going off somewhere potentially dangerous – alone, that is. She asked Cassandra to go with him and make sure he got home safely, which she agreed to without any hesitation.  
  
“You do realize, of course that, if you _hadn’t_ told us, you would have been arrested for sneaking off with him as soon as you got back? He’s practically a _prince_.” Cassandra remarked with a smirk as they walked through the woods together.  
  
“Uh, yeah, I knew that.” Lance said defensively.  
  
“He didn’t, I had to tell him.” Varian grinned.  
  
Cassandra laughed and Lance blushed in embarrassment.  
  
Varian pulled an apple out of the bag he’d brought with and offered it to the raccoon on his shoulders. “So, how much longer are we walking, anyway?”  
  
“Oh, it shouldn’t be too much farther.” Lance checked his map. “Should be in this direction…”  
  
Varian stopped short and they stopped with him, looking at each other with confusion as he walked over to push some vines aside, sighing softly. They looked in and saw him looking at a tower. “Is that the place?” Cassandra asked softly.  
  
“Yeah.” Varian nodded. “That’s the place. That’s where she stole us away to when we were kids and forced us to stay until Eugene got us out.”  
  
Ruddiger patted his cheek soothingly as he stared at it with an unreadable expression.  
  
“Wow…” Lance let out a low whistle. “That must’ve been…uh…terrible.”  
  
Varian nodded.  
  
“But,” Lance grinned and nudged him, “you still _are_ a kid.”  
  
Varian moved away and let the vines fall. “Right. Lead on?”  
  
“Right.” Lance nodded. “So, what’s in that bag, anyway?”  
  
“That’s his bag of tricks.” Cassandra grinned.  
  
“It’s what I store my alchemy in when I’m on the move.” Varian explained.  
  
“Ohh.” Lance eyed it. “Must be a lot of cool stuff in there.”  
  
“You’re _not_ touching my bag.” Varian told him sharply.  
  
Lance quickly put his hands behind his back.  
  
“’Going straight’, my ass.” Cassandra muttered. “Hey, uh, Varian. I wanted to ask you something.”  
  
“Sure, if you don’t mind _him_ hearing it.” Varian nodded to Lance.  
  
“Why did you bring back her cloak with you?” Cassandra’s brow furrowed.  
  
Varian looked surprised by the question, then frowned. “…I don’t know. Some part of me misses her, I guess. I thought that if I cleaned it up, I could wear it.”  
  
“She kidnapped you, though.” Cassandra frowned.  
  
“Yeah, and I knew her as something else besides ‘mom’. She still took care of me, even if I was a little _brat_ to her. She still tried to help me understand and control my powers.” Varian reasoned.  
  
“Powers?” Lance asked.  
  
“Quiet.” Cassandra glared at him, then looked back at Varian. “Still, it seems a bit…odd to keep it.”  
  
“I know. And I probably shouldn’t; it’s certainly not helping my nightmares.” Varian sighed.  
  
“Maybe I could take it? I can keep it in my hidden cache, so if you ever need to see it, you can ask.” She offered.  
  
“Okay.” He nodded. “You can have it, then.”  
  
“So…about these ‘powers’?” Lance asked.  
  
“Didn’t I say to be quiet?” Cassandra snapped.  
  
“Yes, ma’am.” Lance replied.  
  
They came out of the woods to a building close to the walls of Corona. Varian tensed, seeing the black rocks around the building.  
  
“Yeesh, these things are _everywhere_.” Lance commented as they headed for the building. “Okay, so the way in is through here.” He picked the lock of the door and opened it.  
  
“We’re only going to take what was taken from you.” Varian reminded him. “Anything else will be left alone.”  
  
“ _Man_ , you’re a stickler for rules.” Lance muttered as he led them in.  
  
He led them down some stairs and through a tunnel. Varian gauged from the distance they were traveling that they were about to go under the walls to leave Corona. He stopped short at the point he gauged where the wall was and looked at Cassandra, unsure.  
  
“If you want to turn back, just say the word.” She told him.  
  
Varian looked at her, then at Lance waiting ahead of him, already past the walls of Corona. “…Let’s go on.” He decided, walking past the wall.  
  
Cassandra nodded and followed him.  
  
\--  
  
They walked for what felt like hours. Black rocks lined the walls, ceiling and floor, forcing them to have to climb over, duck under and inch around them to get through.  
  
“Man, those things are _everywhere_ …” Lance repeated as he crawled through a gap in the black rocks.  
  
Varian carefully moved around them, ever wary of his Moon Powers reacting to them around this stranger.  
  
Finally, they found a set of stairs and Lance led them up to a door, which he opened to a darkening sky. “Oof, that took longer than I expected.” Lance admitted.  
  
“Yeah, you _think_? Let’s hope this is a quick trip.” Cassandra said as she stepped out behind Varian and Lance.  
  
Varian clutched at his bag, looking up at the moon silently, a song playing in his head, sung by a voice he felt like he knew…but also didn’t.  
  
 _Come to me.  
Come to me.  
Crescent high above,  
Evolving as you go,  
Raise what lies beneath  
And let the darkness grow.  
  
_“Varian?” Cassandra placed her hand on his shoulder. Varian barely registered what she was saying, his eyes and hair starting to glow. The song was less clear now, fading in and out of his mind like waves at the beach.  
  
 _Bend…to my will._  
 _Consume…sunlight’s…  
Rise….the sky.  
………………………..  
Let darkness grow._  
  
“Varian!” _  
_  
Varian gasped and his eyes and hair stopped glowing. He realized he was reaching towards the moon and quickly dropped his hand. “…I shouldn’t be out here.” He breathed.  
  
“You’re right, you shouldn’t be. Sorry, Lance, but whatever you have to get, it’s not worth putting him in danger.” Cassandra led Varian back to the door they came through.  
  
“What was _that_ about?” Lance asked as he followed them back through.  
  
“Look, you want to prove you’re going straight? One, stop stealing stuff. Two, join Eugene and help out the Royal Guard. That’s how you can do it.” Cassandra helped Varian get around the black rocks on the way back.  
  
“Whoa.” Lance said, and Cassandra gasped as the rocks and Varian’s hair and eyes started glowing.  
  
“Damn!” Cassandra lifted Varian into her arms and hurried through, Lance struggling to keep up as the blzck rocks started to actively try to block their way back through.  
  
Varian cringed and held out his hand, focusing as he furiously sang.  
  
“ ** _Crescent high above,  
Evolving as you go,  
Raise what lies beneath  
And let the darkness grow.  
LET DARKNESS GROW!”_  
**  
Black rocks shot out of the ground and smashed into the ones trying to stop them, shattering many of them. Cassandra didn’t question it and they ran through, the black rocks coming after them. ** _  
_  
**They barely got through the door and Cassandra shoved Varian forward before pulling Lance away from the door and then glowing rocks demolished the building, reducing it to rubble.  
  
“How…Did you _control_ them?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“I didn’t…I just sang the first verse while really… _really_ angry.” Varian said, then let out a weak moan as he fell to his knees. Ruddiger pawed at him anxiously. “And it…it made bigger…stronger rocks than usual.”  
  
“Uhm…so… _that_ was a thing.” Lance cleared his throat. “WHY WAS HIS HAIR GLOWING!?”  
  
Cassandra sighed, rolling her eyes. “I need to get him back home.”  
  
“Oh, I’ll carry him.” Lance came over and lifted Varian into his arms. Ruddiger watched him warily and climbed up onto his shoulder to settle into Varian’s arms.  
  
“Feel dizzy.” He groaned. “Bend…to my will…Consume…” He faded off as he drifted off. “Sunlight…”  
  
“I’m _very_ confused!” Lance stated.  
  
“Ugh. Varian has powers of the mystical Moonstone of legend. I guess the black rocks decided to attack him for some reason.” Cassandra frowned. “Why would they attack him, though? Maybe Raps would know.”  
  
“Well, he does have the ability to, apparently, summon them. Maybe they don’t like that.” Lance reasoned as they started back through the woods.  
  
“Maybe…” Cassandra frowned.  
  
\--  
  
Rapunzel was, obviously, _quite_ concerned when Cassandra and Lance brought Varian in unconscious. Cassandra explained what happened the best she could while tucking him into bed and Lance stood to the side looking and feeling awkward.  
  
“…No wonder his father doesn’t want him going back there yet.” Rapunzel said softly. "I’m sorry, Lance, but you’re not going to be able to get back your stolen item.”  
  
“Well, I’m not going to be able to even if I go alone. The, uh, tunnel got destroyed by black rocks. What are those things, anyway? Something about an old legend?” Lance asked.  
  
Rapunzel sighed. “It’s…complicated.”  
  
“I’ll explain.” Eugene said, walking over to him. “We’ll talk on your way out. Come on.”  
  
“Uh, okay.” Lance nodded and they left together.  
  
Cassandra waited until they left, then looked at Rapunzel. “I think…he learned more of the incantation.”  
  
“What do you mean?” She asked.  
  
“He was saying some strange words. ‘Bend to my will, consume sunlight’.” Cassandra explained.  
  
“…That sounds like part of an incantation, alright.” Rapunzel sighed and reached over to stroke Varian’s cheek. “Oh, Varian…”  
  
“Right…so…we keep him away from the rocks?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“Far away.” Rapunzel nodded.  
  
Varian slept on, unaware of the conversation, plagued by nightmares of black rock hands reaching for him lovingly, possessively, as a voice sang over and over words he couldn’t fully hear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Varian should NOT have gone outside the Kingdom...


	14. 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a new thief in town! After Cassandra fails to catch them, Eugene enlists Varian's help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney
> 
> ((A/N: Couldn't find a transcript and when I wrote this I didn't have access to the episodes so was running heavily on plat synopsis. So, if things are very different this "episode", that's why. Though I have access to the episodes now, I liked this too much to rewrite it according to canon.))

The city was in a bit of a commotion today. Apparently, there was a new thief in town called the Silent Striker. People wouldn’t even hear them coming before they were robbed, and no one knew where they would strike next. As a result, Varian and Rapunzel were kept inside and Eugene took Lance with him to help the guard find the one responsible, in an attempt to do as Cassandra said and help him go straight by helping out.  
  
Rapunzel frowned a bit as she waited for Varian to make his move, but he seemed…distracted. Pascal lick his ear and he yelped before rubbing it. “Heeey.” He whined.  
  
“’Heeey’ yourself.” Rapunzel said as she smiled at Pascal. “You still with me, little brother?”  
  
“Uhm…no. No, I’m on the moon.” He joked, and she sighed. “I’m…sorry. I just…” He sighed. “The dreams have gotten…creepier, since I stepped outside the wall.”  
  
“Yeah, if I’d known you were going to be _doing_ that, I never would have let him take you there.” Rapunzel frowned.  
  
“Shows me to ask where we’re going before I go, huh?” Varian laughed bitterly.  
  
“AGH!”  
  
They heard a commotion outside and went to the balcony to look out. Cassandra was being supported by a worried-looking Eugene. “Oh no.” Varian said, then looked over as Rapunzel hooked her hair on the balcony and went down. “Rapunzel, we could just use the door!” He said before running out of the room with Ruddiger on his heels.  
  
“Cass, what happened?!” Rapunzel asked as Varian ran out to join them.  
  
“Ugh, those rotten little…” Cassandra groaned. “I set a trap, but it backfired. That ‘Silent Striker’ is two people! I caught one and the other jumped me and broke my leg!”  
  
“Cassie, you gotta stop getting hurt bad enough to be bedridden.” Varian teased.  
  
“Well, if _you_ think it’s so funny, why don’t you go out and help catch them?” She challenged.  
  
“Okay.” Varian nodded. “I will.”  
  
“Uh, didn’t the King say—” Lance started, but Eugene cut him off.  
  
“Alright, kid. Let’s see what you can make to catch them.” He said, smiling at Varian.  
  
Varian nodded.  
  
\--  
  
While Cassandra was put to bed and Rapunzel nursed her back to health, Varian went over the thieves attack patterns with Eugene, who had recently joined the Royal Guard.  
  
“Looks like they’re pretty consistent. They attack around this area a lot, and always people that seem to have something hanging off them that looks _really expensive_.” Eugene said as Varian looked at the map thoughtfully.  
  
“Okay…so, I set myself as bait, dress in my formals and wear some jewelry that will catch their eye.” Varian said, nodding. “When they strike, I’ll lure them to a tripwire I’ll set up that will fire off goo bombs and hit them, confining them for easy capture.”  
  
“Maybe _I_ should be the bait.” Eugene suggested.  
  
“Why would they rob _Flynn Rider_? Most of the thieves out there still think of you as the thief you were, not someone to rob.” Varian pointed out.  
  
“I just don’t like you putting yourself in harm’s way again. At least don’t go alone.” Eugene pleaded.  
  
“I won’t be.” He smiled at Ruddiger. “Ruddiger is going to have a fancy collar and help me catch attention.”  
  
“Oh yeah, rich people always have weird pets.” Lance commented.  
  
“Like King Trevor and his pet seal.” Eugene nodded.  
  
“Once they’re caught in the goo, you’ll bring the guards and they’ll get cuffed before I release them.” Varian went on. “Sound good?”  
  
“Great.” Eugene nodded. “I’ll still be on standby because I don’t want anything to happen to you.”  
  
Varian sighed with a smile. “Okay, but don’t spoil the plan, got it?”  
  
\--  
  
True to the plan, Varian dressed in his finest and added some gold and sapphire jewelry to catch attention and Ruddiger wore a gold and sapphire collar. The streets had been cleared for the investigation and so it wasn’t easy to spot him coming down the street with Ruddiger by his side.  
  
Eugene and Lance watched from a distance with the guards, all of them feeling anxious. Cassandra had been beaten so easily, what if Varian ended up with a broken bone or worse? Rapunzel would never forgive them for letting him do this.  
  
Varian heard them before he saw them. Small footsteps, barely noticeable. He’d trained himself to hear the lightest of steps for when he and Rapunzel had played tag in the tower and so he was able to detect them when the guards wouldn’t.  
  
Light steps, rapid, two of them. They moved at both sides of him, planning a pincer strike? Or maybe one would stay in hiding while the other attacked. He was kind of hoping for the pincer, frankly.  
  
He kept walking at a calm pace and then stopped and knelt to let Ruddiger up onto his shoulders and stroke his fur. Then he heard it. They stopped, just briefly, and then one of them kicked off. One at a time, then. No matter, he could work with this. He saw the blur and moved quickly out of the way of a knife held by a small, cloaked figure. He jumped back from another try with the knife and then ran, the thief pursuing him. The other one started moving too, and he ducked around the corner.  
  
They thought they had a frightened rich boy on the run. He’d give them props, they weren’t being stupid and alerting him to their presence before they tried to strike.  
  
Too bad they were dealing with the guy who’d been ambushing an unsuspecting woman for years with various forms of pestering. He made another turn and they followed. The one not on his heels stopped and he guessed they were about to jump.  
  
Perfect.  
  
He ran forward and pretended to trip, dodging over the tripwire with a roll, and then the other one appeared, striking at him. He kicked the tripwire and rolled away just as the two assailants were engulfed in a pink cloud, a young, frustrated female voice yelling out.  
  
“Ewwww, what IS this stuff?!”  
  
The smoke cleared and Varian walked over to pull down the hoods of his two assailants. Two girls a few years younger than him glared up at him, their bodies stuck in goo. “You picked the wrong mark, ladies.” He said teasingly.  
  
“It worked!” Eugene laughed as they ran over with the guards. “It…uh… _kids_?!”  
  
“Hey, _we_ started around that age.” Lance reminded him.  
  
Eugene looked at them sympathetically.  
  
“Stop looking at us that way!” The black-haired girl snapped.  
  
The red-haired girl just looked down sadly, struggling a bit.  
  
“They’re…kids.” The Captain looked at a loss.  
  
“So, are you gonna cuff them or what?” Varian asked, pulling out the neutralizer.  
  
“Uh, right. Men.” The Captain moved forward with the guards and they cuffed them before Varian used the neutralizer to dissolve the goo around them. “Thanks for your help, Varian.”  
  
“No problem. I’m getting out of this dumb outfit now.” Varian said, walking off. Eugene laughed and one of the guards went to escort him back.  
  
\--  
  
“I got beat by a couple _kids_?!” Cassandra asked, humiliated.  
  
“To be fair, they were actually really good. They were just dealing with _me_.” Varian grinned.  
  
“Varian prides himself in being a sneaky pest.” Rapunzel giggled and offered Cassandra an orange slice.  
  
“So, what’s going to happen to those kids?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“Don’t know. They’re too young to go to prison, but they can’t have them running loose.” Varian sighed. “I guess it’s up to the King.”  
  
\--  
  
The King’s verdict was that Eugene and Lance would take the girls under their wing, seeing as they were in their shoes before. It was, apparently, Eugene’s passionate suggestion. As a result, the kids, who refused to give their names and got called “Angry” and “Red” by Eugene and Lance, were currently out in the courtyard with Eugene, Lance, Rapunzel and Varian.  
  
“I remember you!” Angry said accusingly. “You tricked us!”  
  
“Yeah, I did.” Varian said shamelessly. “You were stealing from people, and you broke my friend’s leg. You deserved it.”  
  
“So, why are you here?” She asked.  
  
“Because I actually do live here?” Varian raised an eyebrow. “I just don’t always dress like that. Or wear that jewelry.”  
  
Ruddiger hopped up onto Red’s lap and she let out an alarmed gasp before gingerly starting to pet his fur.  
  
“You know, nothing is keeping me from leaving here. I bet I could leave and you wouldn’t even notice.” Angry said smugly.  
  
“Try it.” Varian challenged with a smirk.  
  
“Should we…stop them?” Eugene asked Rapunzel.  
  
“Nah, he doesn’t get to hang out with kids often.” Rapunzel smiled as they watched Angry get up. Her sister didn’t seem so eager and Angry huffed and then dashed for the exit as fast as she could go. Varian waited until she got close to the exit and then threw another goo bomb. She let out an outraged yell as it hit and she was, once again, trapped in goo.  
  
Varian walked over and grinned. “That was fun. Wanna race next?”  
  
“You’re on!” She said as he dissolved the goo.  
  
As soon as it was dissolved, she took to a run again. Varian dashed after her and Eugene followed them, since he was sure he could outrun a guard if it came to it. He saw Varian catch up to the smaller girl easily and then he caught her around the waist, earning a yelp and then laughter burst out of her as he held her close to him and started to tickle her.  
  
“No, no, n-n-n-n-n-n-oooooo! S-s-s-stoooooop!” She laughed, trying to pull away from him.  
  
“I thought we were going to race?” Varian asked with a grin. “Why’d you cheat, huh?”  
  
“I-I was trying to trick yoooou!” She admitted, laughing helplessly. Finally, he let her go and she shoved him before going for his ribs with her fingers. “Your turn!”  
  
Varian laughed and grabbed her hand before pulling her back into the courtyard with him. “Come on, let’s get something to eat.”  
  
She laughed. “Okay, fine, you win! For now.”  
  
Eugene smiled and followed them in.  
  
“So, what are you hungry for?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“Can…” They looked at Red, surprised to hear her speak. “Can I have cake?”  
  
“Red!” Angry frowned.  
  
“Of course you can have cake!” Rapunzel smiled. “Let’s all go in and have cake.”  
  
“Yes, cake!” Varian cheered.  
  
\--  
  
That night, Rapunzel tucked Red and Angry into a guest room in the castle. Eugene smiled fondly at the scene and Varian nudged him with a grin. “Thinking of her tucking in your future kids?” He teased.  
  
Eugene blushed. “I…guh…wha…” He nudged him back “Pest.”  
  
“There. Now, if you need anything, you know where my room is.” Rapunzel said gently as she stood up. “Sleep well, girls.”  
  
“Good night, princess.” Red said softly. Angry just rolled onto her side, facing away from them.  
  
“C’mon, sis.” Varian headed out of the room. “Let’s let them sleep.”  
  
Ruddiger purred and nuzzled Varian’s leg as they left them alone. Varian glanced at the room, then looked at Ruddiger. “Can I get you to keep an eye on them?” He asked as Rapunzel and Eugene headed off together. “I’m worried they might try something. Come get me if you see them leave their room.”  
  
Ruddiger nodded and stayed by the door. Varian nodded and headed after Rapunzel.  
  
\--  
  
Varian was woken by Ruddiger a few hours later. He looked at Rapunzel sleeping in the bed next to him and slipped out, putting on his boots, gloves and goggles and grabbing his alchemy bag before following Ruddiger to where the girls’ scent was going.  
  
“What _is_ it about this crown that makes people want to steal it so often?” He muttered, seeing the case for Rapunzel’s crown empty. “Alright, Ruddiger. Let’s go find them.”  
  
He managed to track them as far as the docks and then the trail was gone with a rowboat. He sighed and wrapped his arms around himself. “Eugene’s not going to be happy about this. Nothing we can do, let’s head back.”  
  
Ruddiger nuzzled his leg sadly and then they headed back together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's that darn CROWN again!


	15. 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red and Angry have stolen the crown, and Eugene and Lance go to get it back. When trouble happens, Rapunzel and Varian step in to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Tangled

“I can’t believe it.” Eugene said in disbelief.  
  
“You tried your best.” Rapunzel said comfortingly.  
  
“It wasn’t enough.” Eugene pursed his lips. “We _have_ to find them.”  
  
“How?” Varian asked. “They took off on a rowboat, the trail ended there.”  
  
“We have to try!” Eugene insisted. “I…I really thought we could get them to change. They seemed so happy.”  
  
“Angry kept trying to run away.” Varian reminded him.  
  
“Eugene…” Rapunzel gently took his hand, “sometimes the best way for people to change is to give them a chance and, if they do not want help, all we can do is be there for them until they do.”  
  
Eugene frowned. “No…I talked to Angry before, she sounded like she wanted to change. There must be some reason for them to keep stealing, something she’s not _telling_ me.”  
  
“Well, you might want to try checking out the river cliffs.” Cassandra suggested from where she had been resting nearby.  
  
“The river cliffs?” Varian looked over at her.  
  
“I saw that girl, Red, when you were hanging out yesterday.” Cassandra nodded. “The flower in her hair is only found at the river cliffs.”  
  
Rapunzel looked at Eugene. “We should go.”  
  
“No.” Eugene stood up. “Lance and I should go. This was our task, and we blew it.”  
  
“Eugene…” Rapunzel sighed and stood up to sweetly kiss him. “Okay. Be safe.”  
  
“Take Ruddiger with you, so he can come get us for backup.” Varian gestured to his raccoon.  
  
Eugene looked surprised and nodded. “I will.” He headed for the door. “We’ll…we’ll be back later. Hopefully with them.” He left, Ruddiger on his heels.  
  
Rapunzel waved as he left, her smile shaky.  
  
\--  
  
Hours passed, and they didn’t return. Rapunzel tried to distract herself, but it was getting more and more difficult. Varian leaned on the balcony, watching for Eugene and the others – or Ruddiger, if they needed help.  
  
“Anything yet?” Rapunzel asked anxiously.  
  
“No.” Varian felt anxious, like something had gone wrong. Horribly wrong. He gasped as he saw a gray figure racing across the bridge. “Ruddiger!” He ran out of the room, racing to the door of the castle to meet his pet. “Ruddiger!” He knelt down and the raccoon jumped into his arms. “What happened? Where are they?” He asked, then noticed a note in Ruddiger’s mouth.. He took it and opened it. “It’s from Eugene…”  
  
“What is it?!” Rapunzel ran to his side.  
  
“’The girls were involved with The Baron. We had to give ourselves up to save their lives. I love you both, but please don’t do anything crazy. Eugene’.” Varian looked up at her.  
  
She frowned. “Varian…”  
  
“We’re going to do something crazy?” He asked.  
  
“Yes.” She nodded firmly. “Go get your bag, Pascal and my frying pan.”  
  
“Yes, ma’am.” He headed in, handing her the note as he passed her.  
  
\--  
  
Ruddiger led them through the woods and to the river cliffs. From there, they followed the scent to a caravan driving down the road. They both tensed, recognizing the caravan as being just like the one they were almost put on. Varian’s eyes glowed slightly as he recalled being locked inside and roughly manhandled to have the crown taken from his bag.  
  
They wouldn’t be the victims this time. Rapunzel let her hair down and Varian pulled out a goo bomb before they nodded and ran for the caravan.  
  
Rapunzel used her hair to lasso it and Varian threw goo bombs at the wheels so they stopped short, unable to move. Then the driver got down and pulled out his knife.  
  
“Well, well, if it isn’t _Her Royal Highness_!” The man sneered.  
  
“Give. Back. My. Eugene!” She said, holding her frying pan aggressively.  
  
Other thugs came out and Varian went to his knife, ready to fight.  
  
“Oh, this will be rich.” The man said, sneering. “The Baron will be pleased if we deliver you two to him. Men! Take them down, but don’t kill them!”  
  
“We’re not going easily!” Varian said as he and Rapunzel sprang to action, Varian loosing more goo bombs and slashing at anyone who wasn’t hit by them with his knife while Rapunzel swung at the leader with her frying pan. He dodged, laughing, but then groaned in pain.  
  
Rapunzel barely saw it, a blur of motion, but Varian realized who it was. Red and Angry had joined the battle, and they were using that beautiful speed they used to steal to attack the thugs. He ran over and opened the caravan door, going in.  
  
“Varian?!” Eugene frowned when he saw him come in. “I sent a letter saying _not_ to come save us!”  
  
“Yeah, well, did you really expect us to listen?” Varian asked as he came over to cut the ropes binding them with his knife. “Red and Angry are out there fighting, too.”  
  
“They…came back for us?” Lance asked, his eyes watering up.  
  
“There.” Varian stepped back and they pushed off the cut ropes before getting up. “Let’s get out of here.” He headed for the door, then paused, listening closely as the sounds of battle ceased. Then he backed up before Rapunzel and the girls came in and slammed the two men to the ground, happily hugging and, in Rapunzel and Eugene’s case, kissing in relief.  
  
“Varian, send Ruddiger to go fetch the Royal Guard.” Rapunzel told him.  
  
Varian nodded and wrote a letter with a notepad in his bag before he took it off the pad and rolled it up. “Ruddiger!” He called, and the raccoon came inside. He handed him the note and he took it in his mouth. “The Captain of the Guards, alright?” He asked, and the critter nodded before taking off at a run.  
  
“Are you two okay?” Lance asked, looking over Red and Angry anxiously.  
  
“We’re _fine_! What about you two?!” Angry asked.  
  
“We’re just fine.” Eugene assured her. “Hey, Varian?”  
  
Varian looked over, saw he was reaching, then came over to hug him. “Was wondering if I was gonna get one of these today.”  
  
“Let’s get out of here.” Varian said, hugging him tightly and then letting go so they could all get up and leave the caravan.  
  
They stepped out of the caravan and looked around. Anyone that wasn’t trapped in goo was unconscious, and Varian walked over to trap them in goo as well, just in case, until the Royal Guard showed up.  
  
“This isn’t over, _Rider_.” The leader hissed. “The Baron will get what he wants. Whether it’s you,” he craned his neck to look towards Varian, “or the kid with the magic hair over there.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah, tell it to the people in the dungeon.” Eugene looked over at the Royal Guard running up to join them, following Ruddiger.  
  
\--  
  
“Sorry we took your crown…” Red said as they returned it.  
  
“We were pretty desperate.” Angry said, avoiding Rapunzel’s gaze.  
  
“Hey, it’s alright.” Rapunzel hugged them both. “I’m just happy that you’re safe, I was so worried about you!”  
  
“Does this mean that you’re going to give up a life of crime?” Eugene asked hopefully.  
  
“Pfft. Don’t push it.” Angry grinned at him as she took her sister’s hand.  
  
“You better watch out because, if I catch you stealing in my area again, it’s goo time.” Varian said, holding out one of the goo bombs with a playful grin.  
  
Angry stuck out her tongue and Red smiled shyly.  
  
“I wish you would stay, but I know I can’t force you to.” Rapunzel said, hugging them both again. “Just know that, if you ever need someone to stay, you can come to us.”  
  
Eugene rubbed Angry’s head and then adjusted the flower in Red’s hair so it was sitting better before he gave them a fancy comb. “This is the first thing I ever stole. I want you to keep it remind yourself of me if ever you feel like you’re going down a path that’s too far.”  
  
“What’s too far?” Angry asked as they accepted it.  
  
Eugene’s expression went grim. “Just…just be careful, okay? You know as well as I how dangerous The Baron is, and he’s not the only one out there. Promise me that you’ll only steal if you need it, and try not to hurt people, okay?”  
  
“And don’t steal from people that help you.” Lance added. “Because then you won’t have anyone to turn to when you need shelter and help. And…” he glanced at Eugene, “don’t use your friends to help you steal something, either. Don’t burn bridges.”  
  
“Any words of wisdom from you?” Angry looked at Varian and Rapunzel.  
  
“We’re not thieves. But, from a kid to another kid, try not to piss off the wrong people. I made an enemy of the Stabbingtons because I was a rude little brat that told them they were less scary than puppies when I first saw them as teenagers.” Varian cringed. “They’ve…held onto that grudge for years. Just…be careful what you say.”  
  
“Got it. Don’t casually insult people that look like they might kill me later.” Angry grinned.  
  
Red knelt to pet Ruddiger and looked up at Varian. “Will…Will you be here if we come back?”  
  
“I mean, here or Old Corona.” Varian shrugged. “Not allowed out of the Kingdom.”  
  
“Be safe.” Rapunzel hugged them one more time and then she let them go with a smile.  
  
“Do you want some food for the road?” Lance offered. “We can fix you up something.”  
  
“I guess we can stick around a bit longer for that.” Angry looked at her sister.  
  
Red nodded.  
  
Rapunzel smiled. “I’ll pack you some travel bags! Wait here!” She ran into the castle, leaving them in the courtyard.  
  
Eugene watched her go with a loving smile. “You know,” he looked at the girls, “it was my stealing this crown that led to us meeting, to her escaping the tower she was trapped in. Sometimes, things just work out.”  
  
“Maybe that thing should be put under better security.” Varian suggested dryly. “You know, like in her _room_ and not on display under a skylight.”  
  
“Ah, yes. Heavily guarded by Ruddiger and Pascal.” Eugene laughed.  
  
“Eh, I dunno, they didn’t do so—shutting up now.” Lance said, noticing Varian’s glare.  
  
“You better.” Varian knelt down and Ruddiger left Red’s lap to climb into his arms.  
  
Rapunzel came out with two backpacks. “Here.” She offered them to the girls. “It should get you through a little while without having to steal to survive again.”  
  
“Thanks.” Angry put the comb into her backpack and put it on, Red putting on hers as she stood up. “Well, I guess that’s it, then. Time to go.”  
  
“Be safe.” Eugene told her with a smile.  
  
“I’ll miss you.” Rapunzel added.  
  
Angry grew flustered, then grabbed her sister’s hand and led her out to the exit. This time, no one stopped her, but Red did look back and gave a shy smile and wave to Varian.  
  
Eugene looked at where she was looking and grinned, nudging Rapunzel. “I think _someone’s_ got a _crush_.” He said teasingly.  
  
“Hm?” Rapunzel looked at him, then at where Eugene was nodding to. “Oh.” She giggled. “That’s cute.”  
  
“Well,” Varian got up and walked off inside. “I’m going to my lab.”  
  
“Hey, uh, I’m thinking of giving up crime.” Lance said, turning to Eugene.  
  
“Finally.” Eugene laughed a bit. “You going to try to join the Royal Guard?”  
  
“Nah, the Snuggly Duckling needs a new chef.” Lance grinned. “I’m gonna apply for the job.”  
  
“Good luck!” Rapunzel said cheerfully.  
  
“Thanks, princess!” Lance said cheerfully.  
  
\--  
  
Varian sighed and sat at his worktable, tapping his fingers on the wood. “I can’t think of anything…” He sighed and looked at his notes. “It’s like the Moonstone is actively making it difficult for me to think of anything that could potentially stop it. Which…I guess makes sense.” He rubbed at his head. “That strange singing won’t stop…”  
  
Ruddiger nuzzled his cheek from where he was draped over his shoulders, letting out a sympathetic whine.  
  
“I’m okay…” He smiled and then looked at the words written on the paper in front of him. “Bend to my will’…no. There’s a word missing…” He rewrote it to put an empty space between “bend” and “to”. “’Bend to my will’, huh…you wish.” He glared at the setting sun outside his window.  
  
_Crescent high above,  
Evolving as you go,  
Raise what lies beneath  
And let the darkness grow._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe we'll see them again sometime.


	16. 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Rapunzel is stuck out in a storm, King Fredric finds her journal and speaks to Varian on what he read there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

There was a terrible storm today. Rapunzel had gone out somewhere before it started and Varian had chosen to stay inside and work on his alchemy. He heard someone clear their throat and looked up to see King Fredric at his door. “This is rare.” He commented, looking back at the ball he was filling with more goo solution.  
  
“Yes, uhm…” He walked over and stand next to him. “I…I found Rapunzel’s journal this morning. It had some…worrying things about you in it.”  
  
Varian sighed, closing the glass balls and setting them to the side.  
  
“Is it true? That the black rocks are trying to force you to follow them back to the Moonstone?” King Fredric asked with concern.  
  
Varian nodded. “It’s true.”  
  
King Fredric knelt next to him. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why…why _hide_ things from me, Varian?”  
  
“Could you, or _anyone_ , actually do anything to stop them? I’ve only managed to use black rocks to destroy them once, when I was already…activated.” He tugged at his hair a bit. “I couldn’t control them, I just summoned them and they smashed together and destroyed each other. And _nothing else_ is affecting them.”  
  
“Still, if I’d known then, I could have kept you away from the rocks. Quirin is trusting me to take care of you, I can’t…I can’t let you keep putting yourself in danger, Varian. You or Rapunzel. I only hope the Captain is with her right now.” King Fredric looked worried.  
  
“Sometimes, I think about what things might be like if I didn’t have these powers.” Varian looked at his gloved hands. “Would the black rocks still be a problem? Would my mom still be here? Is all of this…my fault? All this pain, this fear, this uncertainty. All the destruction…” He looked towards the window. “If I didn’t have these powers, would it still be happening?”  
  


“Varian…” King Fredric frowned. “I understand why you might be having these thoughts…”  
  
“If I give myself up, will the black rocks go away?” Varian stood up and went to the window, his arms wrapped around himself as he stared out at the storm. “If I surrender myself to it…”  
  
“Don’t even finish that thought.” King Fredric got up and walked over, placing his hands on his shoulders and turning him to face him. “Don’t _ever_ think that letting that thing take your life to be whole is the solution. We will find a way to stop the black rocks, and I don’t want you to _ever_ talk about giving yourself up again, understand?”  
  
“Your Majesty…”  
  
King Fredric smiled and shook his head. “You’re like a son to me, Varian, though I would never try to replace Quirin. You don’t need to be so formal with me.” He gently brushed his long bangs out of his face. “I want to protect you just as I want to protect her. You both just…” He chuckled a bit. “Make it…so _difficult_ sometimes. Always running off to try to solve problems on your own…you’re only _children_.”  
  
“Rapunzel is eighteen.” Varian reminded him.  
  
“But _you_ are still only a child. And Rapunzel is…still so naive.” He smiled sadly. “You _both_ are, even if you try to act wise to the world. You don’t…you don’t know all the dangers out there. Yes, you know of kidnappers and thugs, but there’s so much…” He sighed. “I just want to protect you from harm.”  
  
Varian smiled and hugged him. “I know…and I’m grateful for your care. But…some things, you _have_ to let us handle ourselves. Otherwise…we’ll just stagnate. It would be no better than when we were in the tower, it’d just be…a _much_ bigger one. You understand, don’t you? Rapunzel wants to feel _free_.”  
  
King Fredric sighed and rubbed his head. “I know…but, allow me to fuss over you both a little longer. Quirin wanted you away from the black rocks, so I’m going to do my best to keep you from them. Even if it drives you both up the wall when I assign more guards.”  
  
Varian let out an overdramatic sigh and King Fredric chuckled. “Come on.” He took his hand. “Let’s go get some food in your stomach, it’s time for lunch.”  
  
“Let me clean up, first.” Varian pulled his hand free and went to clean up his worktable and alchemy kit. King Fredric stood back to watch, sighing softly.  
  
\--  
  
Owl came back with a message from his dad, a progress report on things he’d tried and a general welfare update. He sent back a reply talking about going outside the wall by accident when helping Lance and the rocks chasing him down when he started to go back. He told him about the singing in his head and the new words he’d learned and finally about King Fredric’s oath to keep him away from the black rocks.   
  
He then wrote an apology about how he hadn’t been able to concentrate on what could affect the black rocks alchemy-wise and wished him luck, since Varian had had none.  
  
He also wrote about what happened with Angry and Red and about his general welfare and wished him well. Then he looked out the window and sighed. “Guess I’ll send it when the storm clears.” He looked at Owl, who was sitting on the desk, then towards the door when it opened.  
  
“Hey.” Cassandra greeted, walking in, taking care not to put too much weight on her injured leg. “Seen Raps around?”  
  
“No, not since before the storm.” He sighed and looked out the window again. “I guess she found shelter somewhere.”  
  
“They’re saying the rivers are flooding.” Cassandra walked over and sat on the bed. Varian walked over and sat next to her. “So…the King somehow found about me taking you guys out to the black rocks.”  
  
“He read Rapunzel’s journal. He cornered me, too.” Varian sighed.  
  
“He said he’s going to have ‘a talk’ with my father when he gets back.” Cassandra said glumly.  
  
Varian frowned. “I won’t let them send you away.”  
  
She smiled a bit. “What can you do to stop it?”  
  
“I don’t know, threaten to throw myself headfirst into a black rock?” Varian shrugged. “I’ll think of something. If you leave, then I’ll have lost a friend here. I’ll be less motivated to stay. Might do something…drastic.” He tilted his head from side to side.  
  
Cassandra chuckled a bit. “Well, we’ll worry about it later, I guess.”  
  
“I will use goo on the wheels of your carriage and keep you from leaving.” Varian grinned.  
  
Cassandra smiled and reached up to run her thumb over the Cassandrium hanging around her neck. “Like I said, we’ll worry about it later.” She looked out at the window. “I hope Raps is okay…”  
  
Varian nodded, wrapping his arms around himself. “Cass…” He glanced at her. “What if…what if I have no choice but to go to it?”  
  
“Don’t even think about that.” Cassandra wrapped her arms around him. “I’m going to protect you from those things, from _that_ thing. No matter _what_ , do you understand?”  
  
He smiled and leaned into her embrace. “Okay.”  
  
The thunder sounded outside and lightening lit up the sky and Varian clutched at her hand anxiously. Cassandra smiled and squeezed back. “I’m sure she’s okay, Varian. Pascal’s with her.”  
  
“Yeah…” He sighed and then smiled when Ruddiger hopped up into his lap. “Still worried, though.”  
  
Cassandra nodded. “Me too, kid.”  
  
\--  
  
They stayed up for hours, Varian refusing to sleep until he saw his sister coming through the door, safe and sound. They started playing games of chess and card games to pass the time, but even that only took up a few hours and then they had to find something else.  
  
“Any luck with the rest of that incantation?” She asked as they worked on a puzzle together.  
  
“No.” He shook his head. “I’m…almost afraid to. I hear it in my dreams every night now, but I feel like if I complete it, I’ll never be able to turn back. That…it’ll take me.”  
  
“Okay…so stop trying, then.” Cassandra sighed. “Don’t want _that_ , after all.”  
  
“Hey, what about the song _you’re_ always humming?” Varian asked her. “Does it have any words?”  
  
“I don’t know.” She admitted. “I told you, it was probably a lullaby sang to me before I was abandoned.” She shifted her position a bit. “I haven’t really bothered trying to think of any words.”  
  
“Well, if you do, let me hear them.” He smiled.  
  
She nodded, then set down the final piece, frowning as the grandfather clock in the hall outside the room struck midnight. “She’s still not back…”  
  
“Probably found shelter for the night. Roads are flooded, after all.” Varian said, sighing and looking at the puzzle. It was one Rapunzel had made of her, Cassandra, Eugene and Varian all in the garden, the picture one that she had drawn herself to be made into a puzzle.  
  
He missed her.  
  
“You should probably get some sleep.” Cassandra smiled and rubbed his head. “I’ll stay here with you until she gets back, okay?”  
  
He nodded, closing his eyes. “I wanted to stay up, but…I’m so tired.” He looked at her. “Wake me up if I have a nightmare?”  
  
“Promise.” She smiled and then he gathered up the finished puzzle and went to put it away before he got changed for bed. Cassandra pet Ruddiger’s fur as she watched the rain fall outside the window.  
  
“Ruddiger.” Varian called, and the raccoon eagerly left her side to go to Varian, curling up with hi in bed. “Cass, you too.”  
  
“What?” She laughed a bit.  
  
“Come on.” He beckoned her over. She shrugged and slowly crawled over, dragging her injured leg as she did, and lay next to him. “Good night, Cassie.”  
  
She chuckled a bit. “Good night, Varian.”  
  
He smiled and closed his eyes, content by her side. Cassandra sighed and looked up at the ceiling, worry plaguing her mind. Was Rapunzel okay? Was her father? Why were they out so long?  
  
She drifted off with that thought on her mind, one hand taking Varian’s to remind him she was here.  
  
\--  
  
Rapunzel came in at sunrise, looking tired but happy, singing to herself. “ _Listen up, listen up, hmhmhmhmhmhm._ ”  
  
“Nn…”   
  
She noticed Varian and Cassandra asleep in the bed and gasped, making a shushing motion to Pascal before she went to get her drawing supplies and sat down to drew the scene in front of her, smiling as she drew their hands tightly clasped together.  
  
“It’s so great that Varian found someone else to spend time with besides me.” She whispered to Pascal. “He and Cass have gotten really close, huh?”  
  
She finished her drawing and then noticed Owl sitting on the desk. Frowning, she walked over to pick up the message he’d brought from Varian’s father, then read over Varian’s reply.  
  
‘Those black rocks are everywhere now…’ She thought, setting the letters back down. ‘I hope he succeeds over there. It’s getting harder and harder to keep Varian distracted.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things have gotten worse...Can they beat the rocks?


	17. 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With how bad things have gotten, Quirin turns to an old...friend. Meanwhile, there's trouble in the Capital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

Quirin’s hands shook as he read over Varian’s letter. ‘Things have gotten worse.’ He thought, his grip tightening on the parchment a bit and making it scrunch a bit. ‘What am I going to do?’ He let go of the letter and walked over to the black rock that had aggressively stabbed into Varian’s lab shortly after he took him away. He looked at his wife’s old alchemy set and pursed his lips. “Do I…really have no other option?” He whispered to himself.  
  
He heard the front door open and hurried out, stopping short when he saw who was standing in his living room. “…Sister.” He greeted.  
  
The white-haired woman dressed in furs and leathers walked closer to him. “Brother.” She smiled a bit. “It has been too long.”  
  
“It has.” He nodded. “What brings you to Corona?”  
  
“What do you _think_?” She raised an eyebrow and gestured to the black-rock sword she’d somehow managed to create many years ago.  
  
His “sister”, Adira, was from the Dark Kingdom just as he was and knew of the Moonstone’s power just as he did. He gestured to the table and went to get them both drinks.  
  
“I went to where the Sundrop Flower was.” She said calmly.  
  
“It was taken almost nineteen years ago.” Quirin commented.  
  
“I am aware of that, brother. I witnessed the Sun Princess touching the black rocks that sprouted there. Ever since, the black rocks have gone wild. I suspect, they knew of the threat she poses to them.” She looked at him.  
  
“You witnessed it?” Quirin set down the drink in front of her and sat in front of her. “What _else_ did you witness that day?”  
  
“She was accompanied by a girl and a boy. The boy seemed to have powers as well. Perhaps of the Moon, judging by the color.” She said thoughtfully.  
  
“That boy is my son.” Quirin pursed his lips. “He was born with Moon powers. The Moonstone wants him because he has a piece of it inside of him.”  
  
“Oh. I assumed it was after the Sun Princess, since they seem to have traveled to the Capital.” She looked around. “Where is your son now?”  
  
“…I took him to the Capital. The black rocks there are of his creation, not the Moonstone’s.” Quirin sighed. “When he gets angry, they appear.”  
  
“Perhaps you should teach him how to better school his temper.” She remarked.  
  
“He’s doing a _lot_ better than he used to.” He gestured to the black rocks of various sizes around the living room. “He’s just…had some troubles over there. I sent him so he would be safe, but I forgot that trouble follows the royal family in the way of criminals with grudges.”  
  
“Hm.” Adira sipped at her drink. “Well, that aside, I think that the Sun Princess should go to the Dark Kingdom.”  
  
“What?” Quirin frowned.  
  
“The Sundrop has the power to destroy the Moonstone—”  
  
“That’s just an old legend. And I would never risk her going there when she could possibly _die_ in the process. Not only because she is like a daughter to me, and she is also the daughter of my friend, but I would never sacrifice _anyone_ to that thing!” He stood up. “The Queen was killed by that thing. So many suffered, our Kingdom is reduced to a wasteland by its power, and you want me to send Princess Rapunzel there?!”  
  
“If she does not, then many _more_ will suffer.” She stood up as well, setting down her cup. “You know this as well as I. You have a piece of the scroll, have you shown it to your son?”  
  
“I have not.” He shook his head. “It’s nonsense without a translation and in pieces besides.” He walked over to look into the fireplace. “No…I’ll find another way to handle this. I will not sacrifice anyone else to that thing.” He moved one hand over the other. “It was pleasant to see you, sister, but I must ask that you leave and never approach the princess or my son.”  
  
“…We cannot hide it from them forever.” She stood up and went to the door. “You know that only two things can destroy it, the Sundrop and itself. You are allowing your feelings to cloud your judgement.”  
  
“LEAVE!” Quirin yelled.  
  
Adira opened the door and walked out. “Take care not to be defeated by the Moonstone, brother.” She said as she closed the door. “Until another time.”  
  
He stared into the fire, his hands tightly clenched, and then he walked over and got out some paper and a pencil, starting to write.  
  
[ _Donella, it has been many years…But I need your help again._ ]  
  
He finished writing and went out to the woods, where he whistled. A hawk flew down and he tied the letter to its leg. “To Donella. You remember her, right?” He asked bitterly.  
  
The hawk let out a screech and took to the air, flying off into the distance. He watched it go, a bitter smile on his face.  
  
[ _I know that you probably don’t want to see me again after our last meeting, but I have no one else to turn to. As you may have noticed, there are black rocks everywhere. These are not from my son, but something much more dangerous that wants to take him from me._ ]  
  
The hawk soared over the Corona Wall, flying far, far away from Quirin and Corona. It flew for hours, the morning turning to sunset as it flew. _  
  
_[ _There are things I haven’t told you about myself. I come from the Dark Kingdom, where the Moonstone Opal has been since time long ago. The Kingdom was destroyed by the Moonstone years ago and I fled to Corona. Somehow, I took a piece of its power with me and it has manifested in my son._ ] _  
  
_An arm wearing a gauntlet reached up and the hawk landed on the gauntlet before the woman that it landed on went inside, taking off the letter as she went. She coaxed the bird onto a perch and sat down to unroll the letter. _  
  
[I need your help destroying these black rocks. I need your alchemical knowledge that only my wife could rival. Please, come to Old Corona. If not for me, then for Varian. Do it for Ulla’s memory. Save her son.  
  
You are his only hope.  
  
Signed,  
Quirin.]_  
  
She sighed and set down the letter. “Well…how could I refuse when you put it like _that_?” She asked sarcastically. Then she looked over as a blonde teenager came into the room. “Ah, Hugo. You’re back, good. Pack your things, we’re going to Corona.”  
  
“Uh, _right_. I’ll just take this to the vault and then go pack my things without even taking a rest!” He waved the object he was carrying and walked off into another section of the building. “Why are we going to Corona?!”  
  
“I’ll tell you on the way.” She said, going to pack her own bags. “It’s a personal visit.”  
  
She paused by a drawing and sighed, pursing her lips. “Ulla, will you never leave me alone?” She said before walking on.  
  
\--  
  
Maximus was having a bad day. A really bad day. It’d started when this strange, black horse, Axel, had shown up and caught a thief that Maximus was chasing. Then he’d tricked him into getting into trouble and it seemed like everyone loved this stranger. He even joined the Royal Guard!  
  
Well, everyone but the ever-cautious Varian and his pet Ruddiger. He could at least take solace in the fact that, even if Rapunzel was completely smitten, her confidant wasn’t as sold on the idea of him sticking around – even though Axel had made an effort to get his approval. His attempt to help out by picking up his alchemy bag for him had ended with Varian dissolving the goo around the black horse’s legs and a scolding on how “alchemy is very delicate”, which was backed up by Ruddiger’s angry chittering.  
  
That had been the highlight of Maximus’ day, really.  
  
“Maybe we should have Axel take the money to the vault on the mainland?” Rapunzel suggested.  
  
“How about we _don’t_.” Varian said, cutting in before anyone else could reply. “He’s only been here a day; would you have trusted Eugene to do that when he was only here a day?”  
  
“I _still_ wouldn’t.” Cassandra remarked, smirking.  
  
“Okay, _you_ …” Eugene raised his finger and fumed.  
  
“Maximus has been making mistakes, though. Maybe he’s getting tired out from the job.” The Captain reasoned.  
  
“Hm…” Varian looked at Ruddiger. “Ruddiger, what do you think?”  
  
Ruddiger chittered in disapproval and Varian nodded. “Yeah, Ruddiger says that Axel is suspicious. I’m inclined to agree.”  
  
“Varian, no offense, but your raccoon—”  
  
“Excuse me?” He raised an eyebrow. “Are you about to imply that Ruddiger is unintelligent?”  
  
“Er…” The Captain stopped short and looked awkward.  
  
“You know…I guess he’s right. Let’s give Maximus another shot.” Eugene suggested.  
  
“What if they _both_ do it?” Rapunzel suggested. “That way, if he _is_ planning something shady, Maximus can keep an eye on him!”  
  
Ruddiger chittered something and Varian watched his hand movements quietly before handing him a notepad and pencil. The racoon took them, hopped down on the table and started to scribble.  
  
“Can it…write?” The Captain asked.  
  
“No, but he can draw.” Varian reminded him.  
  
“Oh yeah, he drew Lance before, didn’t he?” Eugene recalled. “Was pretty good.”  
  
Ruddiger sat up and tapped the picture. It was very scribbly, but they could see Axel had apparently been paying the prisoners a visit. That is, if the picture was right. Varian looked at the Captain. “Have you assigned him to patrol the dungeons at all?”  
  
“Well, no, but _you_ don’t patrol it, either.” The Captain pointed out.  
  
“I haven’t been in there since Attila’s trial.” Varian looked back at the picture. “I’ve had Ruddiger watching that horse ever since the race he and Maximus had. Call it a gut instinct, or maybe just my paranoia, but doesn’t this seem suspicious?”  
  
“About as suspicious as a Duchess without a name.” Rapunzel said, looking at the scribbly Lady Caine in the picture.  
  
“Okay, so we put Maximus on the job.” The Captain nodded. “What do we do about this horse?”  
  
“We watch what he does when Maximus is too busy to stop him.” Varian said, nodding firmly and stroking Ruddiger’s fur. “The last thing we want is for those prisoners to get loose, after all.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded, clutching at her hair nervously. They’d had too many close calls with those particular prisoners…  
  
“Hey, where is Maximus, anyway?” Eugene realized. “I haven’t seen him for a few hours.”  
  
\--  
  
“Maximus?” Rapunzel called as she, Varian and Eugene went out looking for him.  
  
They split off, Rapunzel heading for the stables, and Eugene went for the town. Varian stayed in the castle, letting Ruddiger lead the way by following the horse’s scent.  
  
“Wait.” He stopped short and Ruddiger stopped when he did. “Why is the door to the dungeons open?” He walked over to it, tensing when he saw the guards unconscious. ‘That’s unsettlingly familiar.’ He thought, gripping his alchemy bag and going in. ‘It’s okay. I’m fully armed, replenished after the stupid horse dropped my bag, it won’t be like last time.’  
  
Still, he couldn’t help but feel tense when he heard Lady Caine talking to the newly-imprisoned thief, Dwayne.  
  
“…the best of the best, my true partner in crime.”  
  
“Well, he certainly seems impressive.”  
  
He moved closer and stopped, seeing another guard unconscious on the floor. Had no one thought to call out an alarm? He knelt to check the guard’s pulse, then gasped when Ruddiger started hissing, moments before a knife was held to his neck.  
  
“Tell your little pet to stand down or I’ll kill him.” Andrew hissed in his ear, the blade against his neck.  
  
Ruddiger reared up to pounce and Varian held out a hand to calm him. Then he was roughly pulled to his feet, his hands held behind his back, as Ruddiger ran off.  
  
‘Not again…’ He thought, then slammed a foot down on Andrew’s before pulling out his knife. The man dodged his weapon and grabbed his head to roughly slam him into the wall, and Varian shook the daze away as his arms were held together behind his back. He was outnumbered, though, he realized as he was shoved forward to the group of criminals, his head hitting the ground hard and sending him into another daze.  
  


“Well, well.” Lady Caine smirked and kicked him in the side. “Snooping again, little one?” She looked up at the others. “Let’s load him up and get out of here.”  
  
He was roughly cuffed and put on top of Axel before they all headed out. Guards came running, probably at Ruddiger’s urging, but the sheer number of criminals working together took them down easily and he was hauled out to the money cart Maximus was supposed to be taking soon.  
  
“Careful, make sure he _stays_ out of it. Don’t want him getting mad and screwing this up.” He heard someone say as he was roughly manhandled and shoved into a dark space. One of the Stabbingtons?  
  
“You sure you don’t want to stick around?” He heard Lady Caine ask.  
  
“We’ll be in the woods if you need us. Need to repair our balloon.” Andrew replied.  
  
“Well, we’ll give The Baron your regards.” Lady Caine laughed.  
  
“Nngh…” Varian groaned, slowly coming out of his daze.  
  
“Shit, he’s coming to.” Someone said.  
  
“So, knock him out. Like, actually _out_ this time.” Lady Caine told them.  
  
He heard Maximus neighing and then some kind of commotion before his prison started to move. Varian gasped and gripped the walls, trying not to knock into them. There was no window, no light, just darkness and what was probably money around him.  
  
He got jostled about helplessly and cried out in alarm when he nearly hit the wall again. “Hey, careful!” He cried.  
  
Whoever was driving clearly didn’t hear him, because he slammed into a wall again and groaned, feeling dizzy from the blow. The cart was intended to carry money, not people, and it was starting to get hard to breathe in this box. He panted heavily and placed his hand against the wall, his body trembling as he started to sing.  
  
“ _Crescent high above,  
Evolving as you go,  
Raise what lie beneath  
And let the dark…darkness grow.  
Let darkness…_ungh.”  
  
He fell on his front, his eyes and hair glowing. Hopefully, it would be enough. He tried to muster up his anger enough to summon a black rock to stop the cart, but it was difficult with the lack of air. His hair started to lose its’ glow as he felt faint.  
  
Then a blue, glowing rock stabbed right through it in front of him, stopping the cart short before he heard that voice singing in his head again. He hated to admit it…but, clearly the Moonstone just saved his life. The door was pulled open and Rapunzel reached in and pulled him out of the darkness, sobbing his name as he was pulled into the sunlight.  
  
Lady Caine was being put in cuffs, as well as Axel and Dwayne. There was no sign of Andrew and his accomplice, or the Stabbingtons.  
  
“Nice work with the rock, kid!” Eugene said, running over to him.  
  
“I…I didn’t.” Varian said, his voice weak and shakily as he slowly recovered from the lack of air. “The…not mine.”  
  
Rapunzel pieced together what he meant and held Varian closer to her, glaring at the black rock stabbed through the money cart.  
  
“Let’s get you home.” Eugene said, reaching to take him from Rapunzel. She held on, carrying him herself. Ruddiger walked at her heels and Pascal climbed onto his chest and patted him comfortingly.  
  
Rapunzel handed him to Eugene so she could climb onto Maximus and then Eugene handed him up so she could have him in front of her. She had a steely resolve in her eyes as she looked at the black rock and the criminals being hauled away and then she rode off on Maximus, leaving the Royal Guard and Eugene to handle the rest.  
  
\--  
  
“There.” Rapunzel finished tucking him in and he smiled weakly at her. “You’ll feel better after some rest.”  
  
“Rapunzel...Andrew…he’s still out there. And the Stabbingtons…” He coughed and she shook her head.  
  
“The Royal Guard will find them. You just focus on recovering.” She assured him. “I’m never going to leave you alone again, I _swear_.”  
  
He sighed softly and closed his eyes. “Tired…”  
  
“You sleep, I’ll be here.” Rapunzel assured him.  
  
Ruddiger curled up at his side and he smiled, letting the raccoon’s purring lull him to sleep.  
  
Rapunzel smiled softly, then walked over to the balcony, opening the doors and looking out at the horizon, which was dotted with black rocks. “I won’t let you take him from me.” She said firmly, gripping the railing tightly. “Do you hear me?! YOU CAN’T TAKE HIM!”  
  
Silence was her only reply, and she glared up at the moon overhead before she walked in and shut the window behind her, going back to Varian's side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, at least Varian can count on the Moonstone to keep him alive when he makes stupid mistakes!


	18. 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Rapunzel and her mother go with Aunt Willow on a girls-only adventure, Varian has to find ways to occupy himself while Eugene looks for the missing escaped convicts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

“Cassandra, Eugene, can I trust you to keep Varian out of trouble while I’m gone today?” Rapunzel asked anxiously.  
  
“Of course you can.” Eugene assured her.  
  
“You go with your mother and aunt and go have fun.” Cassandra assured her.  
  
Rapunzel looked over at where her mother’s estranged sister, Willow, was regaling Varian with tales of her travels to the rest of the world. He was listening with rapt attention, and she was loving the attention.  
  
“Alright, we better get going if we want to make it in time.” Queen Arianna walked briskly over to them. She placed a hand on Varian’s shoulder and kissed his head. “Do Fredric a favor and don’t get yourself nearly killed again.”  
  
“Yes, ma’am.” He said with a sheepish grin.  
  
“Aw, but I was—okay.” Willow headed out after her.  
  
Rapunzel left Cassandra and Eugene and walked over to hug Varian before she followed her mother out.  
  
The door shut and Cassandra sighed. “So…what non-lethal thing are we doing today?” She asked him.  
  
“Did they ever find Andrew?” Varian frowned.  
  
“Uhh, no. No, he’s still out there, but we’re watching for him. And you are not going anywhere near the woods until we do catch him.” Eugene told him, shaking his head.  
  
“I wanted to go to Old Corona.” Varian frowned.  
  
“Sorry, your dad’s orders are to keep you here.” Cassandra shook her head. “Come on, let’s distract you with some training. Fitzherbert, help us?”  
  
“Sure, nothing like a kid trying and failing to kick my butt.” Eugene said teasingly.  
  
“I will hurt you.” Varian said as he followed them out.  
  
Eugene laughed.  
  
\--  
  
The day on wore on, with Varian doing various things to distract himself from both the black rocks and Rapunzel being gone. The event they were going to took place at night, so he likely wouldn’t see her again until the next day, if that. Cassandra and Eugene did their best to find different ways to distract him, like Eugene suggesting he try making something to help the Royal Guard.  
  
“Might be good to have something to carry around and fire off those goo bombs of yours like a cannon.” Eugene suggested, and Varian had eagerly gotten to work on a blueprint in his lab.   
  
“That oughta keep him busy for a while.” Eugene muttered to Cassandra. She nodded and Eugene sighed. “Right. You watch him, I’ll go join the Captain in tracking down the Saporians.”  
  
“Right, good luck with that.” Cassandra moved her hand to her side, a phantom pain of being stabbed suddenly twinging her rib.  
  
Eugene nodded and headed off. Cassandra headed for Varian’s lab, stopping to pick up some fruit on the way.  
  
Varian barely noticed her when she came in and she walked over to look at what he was working on. He paused in his work and looked up at her. “You’re in my light.”  
  
“Oh, sorry.” She moved to the side. “Hungry?” She offered him an orange.  
  
“Not right now. Working.” He went back to it.  
  
“Okay, then.” She walked over and found a chair to sit in and watch him work.   
  
Over time, blueprints turned into welding parts together and making use of tools Cassandra didn’t really know about. Alchemy and engineering was…beyond her. She’d tried reading one of Varian’s books one time and ended up with a headache that had her lying on the floor to try to soothe it.  
  
The steady sound of Varian banging and welding and adjusting was almost like a lullaby and she started to drift off in her chair. She was startled awake by Varian apparently checking on her, his brow furrowed. “Oh, I’m okay.” She assured him.  
  
“You don’t have to stay and watch, you know.” He went back to work.  
  
“Actually, I do.” She stood up and stretched. “There’s a psycho with a knife out there somewhere, and you have unfortunately gotten on his shit-list.”  
  
“Yeah, by trashing his balloon.” Varian rolled his eyes and then pulled the welding mask back down to get back to work.  
  
Ruddiger chittered at him and he raised his mask before looking at him. “You want to go get food? Just take from the bowl she brought.” He lowered it and went back to work.  
  
“Think Rapunzel’s having fun?” Cassandra asked, looking over at the window. It was getting to be really late in the day.  
  
“Probably. Don’t know about Aunt Arianna though.” Varian commented. “She didn’t seem to be too happy about her sister showing up.”  
  
“Raps means well, I’m sure, but sometimes she does unnecessary stuff.” Cassandra sighed heavily.  
  
“Mm.” Varian made a noncommittal noise, focused on his work.  
  
“Were you like this in the tower?” Cassandra asked curiously.  
  
“Hah, worse.” He turned off the welding tool and raised the mask. “Gothel would be going on and on and I’d just roll my eyes at her talking about, by the way, _herself_. And when she wasn’t bragging about herself and her beauty, she was putting down Rapunzel’s. Which is usually when I would make a mistake ‘on accident’ and my work would blow up. And always when she was near my worktable.” He grinned. “She was _so_ mad, told me to clean it up and then go to my room. Of course, because I did that so _often_ , I wasn’t allowed to make anything purposely explosive.” He sighed heavily. “She was so overdramatic and sensitive.”  
  
“I guess she didn’t like you much?” Cassandra smirked.  
  
“Cass, she didn’t like anyone but _herself_.” He took off the mask and set it on the worktable. “She took care of Rapunzel for her hair, her powers, and that was it. She kept me for the same reason. She didn’t _need_ me; I was just part of the research she was doing with Lord Demanitus long ago. She was _studying_ me. And _using_ Rapunzel. The woman didn’t have a heart.” He clenched his fists.  
  
“Did she have any family?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“None that I know of. She never talked about any.” He sighed. “But, if she did, they probably died long ago. She was ancient.” He picked up the welding mask again and put it back on. “And a terrible mother.”  
  
“But, you kept her cloak.”  
  
He didn’t respond for a bit, his expression hidden behind the mask. “I mourned her, too. She was terrible…but, she still kept us alive. She kept us hidden. Until we left…we were never in danger. And now…” He chuckled bitterly. “Everything is out to get us. I don’t know…” He sighed and started working again. “Maybe part of it is to assure myself that she’s really gone?”  
  
“Hm.” Cassandra nodded, sitting back down. “Anything I can help with?”  
  
“No, I got it.” He said, turning the welding tool back on and getting back to work.  
  
“Okay.” She stood up and drew her sword, starting to practice with it while he worked. Better than falling asleep and being ambushed by someone attacking the alchemist.  
  
Rapunzel had come back from rescuing Varian from Lady Caine with an expression she’d never seen on her before. And, somehow, she didn’t think it was to the criminal. Not if her yelling at the sky that night had anything to say about it. Something had happened, something to do with his powers, that set Rapunzel into a completely overprotective state. Which is why she was currently watching him, even though he didn’t need to be watched.  
  
There was a knock on the door and then King Fredric opened it and looked in. “Varian, it’s time for dinner.”   
  
“Already?” He turned off the torch and set it down before removing the welding mask. “Alright.” He took off his apron and set it down before heading for the door. Cassandra sheathed her sword and followed them out.  
  
“Have you heard from Quirin?” King Fredric asked as they walked down the hall.  
  
“No, not since I sent my latest message to him. I guess he’s busy.” Varian shrugged. “I mean, alchemy can be very distracting, plus he has his crops to take care of, it is harvest season. Also, he does lead the town, so…”  
  
King Fredric nodded. “I understand.” He placed a hand on his shoulder. “He doesn’t know about what…happened the other day, does he?”  
  
“No. He hasn’t sent Owl back yet.” Varian shrugged. “Besides, he doesn’t need extra stress right now.” He pursed his lips. “I guess it’s…a bitter kind of relief that it won’t let me be killed.”  
  
“What?” Cassandra looked confused.  
  
King Fredric sighed. “Let’s not talk about such things. Are you hungry? There’s cupcakes, your friend Attila sent them.”  
  
“Yes!” Varian cheered. “We should save some for Rapunzel, too.”  
  
“Of course. She would be rather cross if we didn’t.” King Fredric smiled and rubbed his head. Varian adjusted his goggles and smiled up at him.  
  
This would be a sweet scene, if Cassandra didn’t know that the King was making a show of it to try to distract Varian from doing something crazy, like going out to find the fugitive Saporians himself. His time in the tower had made him so self-reliant and distrusting of anyone else to do what was needed to be done, it was almost painful to see him try to pretend he was content with not doing anything.  
  
\--  
  
After dinner, Varian returned to his lab to work on the weapon again until it was time for bed. By the time Cassandra came over to take him to bed, he’d finished it.  
  
“We’ll give it a try tomorrow.” He declared, walking out with her. He stopped to lock up his lab and then headed to his room with Cassandra with Ruddiger following close on his heels. “Did they find them yet?”  
  
“No, but someone in Old Corona reported seeing a hot-air balloon taking off.” Cassandra sighed.  
  
“They got away?” Varian frowned.  
  
“Yeah, seems so. But, well be watching closely for them, so if they ever come back it’ll be straight to prison for them.” Cassandra assured him.  
  
“This wouldn’t be a _problem_ if they weren’t all kept in the same dungeon as neighbors. Why try to send Attila away, but not all of those people that posed _very real threats_?” Varian asked with a frown.  
  
Cassandra sighed. “I don’t know, kid.” She opened his bedroom door. “I don’t know.”  
  
\--  
  
That night, he was plagued with more singing, more reaching hands, more of the Moonstone taking the shape of people that meant him harm or to possess him. Tonight, it was Gothel. They were in the tower again and she was walking around him.  
  
“Wasn’t it _so_ much easier to just do as you were told? Sure, you were troublesome, but you didn’t run off and get into dangerous trouble.” She clicked her tongue and stopped behind him, running her hands through his glowing hair as they looked into a mirror. She looked like Gothel, but her eyes were glowing blue. “You had a _very_ close call the other day, you know. Why don’t you come home to me?” She knelt behind him. “The Sundrop has lost her power, but you…you are still so powerful, and growing more-so by the day.”  
  
“You’re…not…Gothel!” He said, jerking away from her.  
  
The walls fell around them and he gasped, getting up and looking around before he looked back at the shimmering, black-rock figure behind him. “Come to the Dark Kingdom, Varian. Come to mommy.”  
  
“You’re not my mother.” He hissed.  
  
“You are a _piece_ of me, how is that anything but the child of a mother?” She laughed, still using Gothel’s voice. “Come to me, and we will be together forever. No more pain, no more fear.” She reached for him and he stepped back, looking around at the ruined landscape around them.  
  
“No!” He said firmly.  
  
“You cannot refuse me forever, Varian. Your foolish father, who stole you from me that day, cannot defeat me. And you cannot hide behind the defunct Sundrop forever.” She hissed, reaching for him again.  
  
He ducked out of her reach and fled. Black rocks followed him, as they always did, but he kept running. He knew he wouldn’t escape. He never did. The Moonstone rose before him, glowing blue as the black rocks around him did the same, caging him, trapping him.  
  
“You cannot run from me. I will catch you, _child_ , and when I do…” She backed him up against the black rocks, reaching out her hands to wrap around his neck. He gasped in pain, clawing at her hands. “You will _obey_ , or you will be _destroyed._ ” She dropped him and laughed, the same cold, cruel laugh he’d grown up hearing.  
  
“ ** _One way or the other, I will be whole!_** ” She declared, her voice echoing off the black rocks.  
  
He woke up in a cold sweat and curled up, his body violently trembling. He looked at Rapunzel’s empty pillow and whimpered, pulling her pillow close to try to imagine she was with him.  
  
\--  
  
Rapunzel came back the next day and right away Varian threw his arms around her. “Whoa, uh, hey! You okay?” She looked at Cassandra. “Was everything okay?”  
  
“Nothing to report.” Cassandra shrugged. “I guess he missed you.”  
  
“Uhm, well…” Eugene looked a bit awkward. “We _did_ lose the Saporians. Someone in Old Corona said they saw their hot-air balloon leave the kingdom. But, it’s okay! We have guards closely watching for them! If they come back, it’s prison time!”  
  
Rapunzel nodded firmly, gently stroking Varian’s hair. “Well, I had a blast, Auntie Willow was fun and I really connected with my mom.” She smiled. “Sorry you missed out, Varian.”  
  
“Eh, it’s fine. I made a goo-bomb launcher!” He grinned. “Or, well, any kind of alchemy bomb, actually. I was going to try it out today!”  
  
“Oh, I’m SO not missing that!” Rapunzel grinned and they walked off together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, crap, the Saporians got away. I'm sure that won't come back to bite them in the butt later.


	19. 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the King and Wueen go out on holiday for a couple days, it's up to Rapunzel and Varian to keep this Kingdom intact! But when trouble brews in the cold, cold wind, can they endure what's coming?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

The weather was getting colder. Their warmer-weather clothes were traded in for warm sweaters and jackets and long, fluffy coats. Rapunzel had to begrudgingly wear _boots_ for the first time in her life, and she whined a bit as Cassandra tied them onto her feet, Varian patting her shoulder sympathetically.  
  
“I have to wear thick stockings _and_ socks, my feet feel so trapped!” She despaired.  
  
“Hey, how do you think I feel in this stuffy overcoat?” Varian gestured to it. “And they keep pinning back my hair!”  
  
“Yes, yes, we’re terrible and you both feel like your freedoms are ripped away from you.” Cassandra rolled her eyes. “Come on, up you get.” She stood up and offered Rapunzel a hand up. “Just like the shoes, only a bit heavier.”  
  
Rapunzel gingerly took a step forward after standing up and sighed. “I’ll…manage.”  
  
Varian got up and sighed. “You think you’ll be okay? King Fredric and Queen Arianna are going to be gone for two days, after all.”  
  
“Well…” She smiled. “I have _you_ , don’t I?”  
  
He smiled and took her hand. “We got this.”  
  
Cassandra walked over and opened the door to let them out. They headed out, Pascal on her shoulder and Ruddiger following behind Varian, both of them wearing scarfs around their necks.  
  
\--  
  
They watched King Fredric assign the shoemaker the job of making boots for all the Royal Guard to make up for the fact that he’d been running low on business due to a repaved road, and then saw the King and Queen off with hugs and smiles.  
  
“Are you sure you two will manage?” King Fredric asked with concern.  
  
“If we work together, we can handle anything.” Rapunzel said, taking her brother’s hand with a smile.  
  
Arianna smiled and kissed their foreheads before she went to get into the carriage that would be pulled by Maximus.  
  
“If you need any advice, you can talk to Nigel—Varian, I know that you and he don’t get along, but please try.” King Fredric said, seeing the expression the boy made at the man’s name.  
  
“She doesn’t need _his_ advice.” Varian said firmly. “He’s too set in his ways and doesn’t adjust to hers. We _tried_ that before.”  
  
“Well…” King Fredric sighed. “Still, he will be here.”  
  
He smiled and hugged them both before he went to the carriage, looking back at them waving one more time before he got in and they set off.  
  
“Right…” Rapunzel said as they left across the bridge. “Time to work.”  
  
They walked into the throne room and Rapunzel put her crown on her head to make it look official before she took a seat in the throne. Varian helped her straighten the crown and then stood by the throne as Nigel approached them.  
  
“Are you ready?” He asked her. “There are many people that need your attention.”  
  
“It’s okay.” Rapunzel nodded. “I got this.”  
  
The old advisor looked doubtful but went to let in the people. “Princess Rapunzel! May I present, your most humble subjects!”  
  
The first two to come in were two shepherds. “Your Highness,” one of them started, “he won’t let my sheep graze next to his without a fight!”  
  
“Isn’t the pasture public land?” She looked at Varian, who nodded. “What do you suggest? I’m thinking they should share, but…”  
  
“Put up a fence to keep them separate.” Varian suggested. “A high one.”  
  
“Good idea!” Rapunzel smiled. “We’ll have a fence erected between your two flocks so they can graze without concern!”  
  
They seemed to be happy with this idea and left. The next two to come up was a man carrying a fiddle and a barber.  
  
“This guy is constantly fiddling near my workplace, how can I cut hair with him distracting me?!” The barber asked.  
  
“Ear plugs?” Rapunzel joked.  
  
Varian raised an eyebrow at her and she grinned sheepishly before she cleared her throat. “If you’re causing a disturbance, then you should move to another section of the city. How about the town square?” She suggested to the fiddler. “It’s wide open and has plenty of space to fiddle!”  
  
“Eh, alright.” The fiddler agreed, and they left.  
  
The next to come up were a man and woman carrying a box full of cats. “Your Highness, we have a serious problem with stray cats running about and eating everything they can get to!” The man declared. “This is only a few of the cats we’re dealing with!”  
  
“Why are there so many strays?” Varian frowned. “Did they have a population boom?”  
  
“If we have strays all over the place, then we should have them rounded up and given homes.” Rapunzel suggested. “We can feed them and then have an adoption event in the palace square!”  
  
That seemed to satisfy them and they left.  
  
Rapunzel let out a sigh and Varian gently took her hand and squeezed it before they straightened up to greet the next ones to come in.  
  
\--  
  
Quirin ushered people inside their homes, looking up at the clouds looming over Corona. He had a bad feeling…   
  
“Quirin?” One of the townsfolk walked up to him. “There’s more black rocks than yesterday…”  
  
“I know…but, let’s not worry about that right now. There’s a storm coming, a big one. Let’s get everyone inside and salvage what we can. And prepare for the cold.”  
  
The man nodded and went back home. Quirin made sure everyone was safe at home before he went to his own home and closed the door before making sure the fire was good and strong. Then he went back to the lab and sighed. “Right…back to work.”  
  
\--  
  
“You two seem to be managing okay.” Cassandra said when Rapunzel and Varian left the throne room.  
  
“Yeah, I got this!” Rapunzel said enthusiastically.  
  
“But you need to stop it with the jokes.” Varian commented.  
  
She adjusted the crown on her head and Varian reached up to straighten it again. Cassandra chuckled. “My parents have been doing this for years. I can’t be expected to be perfect on my first day, right?” Rapunzel said nervously.  
  
“Nigel seems to think so.” Varian scowled.  
  
Cassandra and Rapunzel exchanged awkward glances. Man, they _really_ didn’t like each other.  
  
\--  
  
“His sheep keep trying to leap over the fence!” The shepherd complained. “What am I supposed to do if they get over?”  
  
“Put different-colored bells on the sheep!” Rapunzel suggested, with an encouraging nod from Varian.  
  
That seemed to satisfy them and they left.  
  
“Now my customers are complaining that they want the fiddling back, but he’s refusing to come back!” The barber complained.  
  
“That’s his choice and you can sing to them instead.” Rapunzel said, while Varian resisted the urge to roll his eyes.  
  
“Okay…” The barber walked off.  
  
The man and woman were back. “The cats all have homes, but now we have a rat problem because they’re too well-fed!” The woman complained.  
  
Varian looked at Ruddiger. “Can you take care of the rats?”  
  
Ruddiger slipped away and Rapunzel smiled. “We’ll have the rat problem handled quickly.” She assured them.  
  
They nodded and left, and then more people moved forward, with Rapunzel and Varian working together to handle each problem just like before.   
  
When it was finally over, again, they left the throne room and Rapunzel took off the crown. “Ugh, that was tiring.”  
  
“Hey, Sunshine!” Eugene walked over with Lance. “Look outside!”  
  
Rapunzel blinked in confusion and walked over to look out a window, gasping in surprise. “Is that... _snow_? Real snow?!”  
  
“Uh-huh.” Eugene grinned.  
  
Rapunzel cheered. “Whoo-hoo! Can I declare that it’s a snow day? Can I do that? I’m gonna do that!”  
  
Varian looked up at the sky thoughtfully, not sure if he shared his sister’s enthusiasm. Besides, he was feeling a strange sort of…dread about this snow. Probably nothing, it was just because snow was as new to him as to her and he’d become wary by second-nature.  
  
Rapunzel grabbed his arm and he gasped as she pulled him outside. “Come on, let’s go experience the snow!”  
  
Cassandra, Eugene and Lance followed them out and Rapunzel stopped once outside and threw out her hands. “It’s a snow day! Let’s have fun!” She declared to the town. There was cheering and then people were putting down their work to start playing with the snow, which was quickly building up. Cassandra made sure that Varian and Rapunzel were wearing thick gloves and earmuffs and checked their coats to make sure they were good and secure.  
  
Ruddiger came racing up to Varian and he caught him. “Oh, hey, let’s get you bundled up.” He said, holding the shivering critter in his arms. “Yeah, the snow surprised me, too.” He headed back in.  
  
“I’ll go help him.” Cassandra told Rapunzel before following him in to make sure they got Ruddiger the snow-clothes he needed. After he was all bundled up, they went back outside, where they found Rapunzel had started everyone in making snow angels and Eugene was organizing a snowball-fight complete with forts.  
  
“Hey, Cass! The other side needs someone to lead their team, want an excuse to throw stuff at me?” He asked with a grin.  
  
“Oh, _absolutely_.” Cassandra said with a grin as she went over to the other fort. “I will _destroy_ you, Fitzherbert.”  
  
“Varian, come on!” Rapunzel called.  
  
Varian giggled and walked over to join her. “So, what are we doing?”  
  
“Well, you lie down, spread out your arms and legs and flap them like a—oh, Varian, your hair-stripe is glowing again.” She commented.  
  
“Yeah, it does that. I’ve just started ignoring it unless it comes with a crippling headache, too.” Varian let out an annoyed sigh.  
  
Ever since his near-death experience in the money cart, his eyes or hair or even just the blue streak in his hair would start randomly glowing. It usually stopped after a few minutes, or he’d just deal with it for a few hours before it finally stopped. He guessed it was because the Moonstone was getting to be more constant, more aggressive.   
  
“Right. Well, you flap your arms and legs up and down, like this!” She started a new one, demonstrating it for him. “Come on, you make one!”  
  
He lay down in the snow and did as she said, giggling a bit. “Is it working?”  
  
“Yeah!” Rapunzel giggled, watching as Ruddiger started trying to make one, too.  
  
“Varian! Rapunzel! Come join the fight!” Eugene called. “Lance is down, I need backup!”  
  
“Varian, you want to come to _my_ side?” Cassandra called with a grin.  
  
“Hey, no fair, _I_ was recruiting him, first!” Eugene frowned.  
  
Varian and Rapunzel looked at each other before they laughed and got up to join them, Rapunzel going to Eugene and Varian to Cassandra.  
  
“Hah.” Cassandra smirked, wrapping an arm around Varian’s shoulders. “With him on my side, I will be unstoppable!”  
  
Varian picked up the snowballs. “Is this your ammo?”  
  
“Yeah.” Cassandra nodded.  
  
Varian started making more while Cassandra and the kids with her readied for the next attack.  
  
“Don’t worry, Eugene. I won’t let us lose, even if I have to face my brother _and_ my best friend.” Rapunzel said dramatically.  
  
“Alright, everyone ready?” Lance asked, apparently play referee now. “On your mark…get set…” He yelped when they started throwing. “Hey, I didn’t say ‘go’!”  
  
“There’s no ‘get set, go’ in war!” Cassandra laughed as they threw snowballs and ducked. Varian and Ruddiger made more ammo as they used the ones they had and Rapunzel reloaded Eugene’s side with Pascal.  
  
They played for an hour, and then took a break to have warm drinks brought out by the castle staff. Varian looked around and frowned. “The snow is really building up.”  
  
“It is.” Rapunzel nodded. “Should we worry?”  
  
“I don’t know…” He glanced at the still-glowing streak in his hair. “But, my magic is still acting up. I don’t think this is a normal snowfall.”  
  
“Kid, your powers have been going haywire since that time the you-know-what saved your life.” Eugene reminded him. “It’s probably nothing.”  
  
“Still, it IS getting really high.” Rapunzel frowned. “Let’s evacuate everyone into the castle to wait out the snow, so no one gets snowed into their homes.”  
  
“Good idea.” Eugene said, heading off to go start that.  
  
“I hope mom and dad are okay…” Rapunzel said softly.  
  
“You know,” Lance walked up to them. “Eugene doesn’t normally like the snow. I think he pretended to for _you_ , princess.” He grinned.  
  
“Well, he seemed to be having fun. Especially when he was fighting Cassandra.” Rapunzel smiled.  
  
Varian nodded, then held his head, looking up at the sky. ‘That bad feeling again…’ He thought.  
  
“Should we evacuate the people of Old Corona, too?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“I think they’ll be alright.” Varian shook his head. “Besides, getting them here would be risky.”  
  
“That’s true.” Rapunzel nodded. “The woods are probably even _more_ covered in snow.”  
  
“They’ll be fine.” Varian said, though he still looked a bit worried.  
  
He wished Owl was sent back already…  
  
\--  
  
The snow kept on, getting heavier and higher. Rapunzel looked out the window anxiously, her brow furrowed. She gasped when she saw Maximus running up and ran out to greet him. “Maximus! Where are my mother and father?!”  
  
Maximus neighed anxiously.  
  
Eugene ran over to him, followed by Lance, Varian and Cassandra. “Rapunzel?!”  
  
“Eugene!” She turned to him. “I think my parents are in trouble! We have to go help them!”  
  
“You cannot.” Nigel walked up to her. “I am sure they found some shelter. You cannot simply run off and leave your subjects.”   
  
“But, they—”  
  
“Rapunzel.” Eugene placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’ll take the guys; we’ll go find them. You and Varian stay here where you’ll be safe.”  
  
“But—” Rapunzel looked at Varian, who shook his head.  
  
“Let them handle this. If we disappear, it’ll only cause a panic.” He said, taking her hand.  
  
“…Okay.” She nodded. “Uhm, Varian, the rest of your hair is—”  
  
“I noticed, thank you.” Varian sighed heavily. “Something’s weird about this storm. I don’t know what it is…but it’s weird.”  
  
“Hm…” Rapunzel looked back at Eugene. “Be safe? Promise me?”  
  
Eugene smiled and kissed her. “I promise. Lance, let’s go round up the guys!” He hurried off, Lance following right behind him.  
  
Rapunzel watched them go, feeling anxious. Nigel cleared his throat. “Princess, you must come inside.”  
  
“C’mon, Raps.” Cassandra coaxed them back in and then the doors were closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This storm is only gonna get worse from here.


	20. 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The storm has grown stronger, but it's not a normal storm. Varian sets out with a team to go and stop the problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

“It’s getting pretty bad out there.” Cassandra said grimly as she looked out the window. The townspeople were all over the castle, much to the staff’s annoyance. Xavier had taken up residence in the library, where Varian and Rapunzel were currently talking with him.  
  
“Xavier, you’re the local lore expert. Varian is _convinced_ that there’s something _odd_ about this storm—”  
  
“My hair has been glowing since it started.” Varian cut in.  
  
“—and I just wanted to know if you know of any, I don’t know, _reason_ that it could be anything but a normal snowstorm? I mean, doesn’t it _normally_ snow this much?” Rapunzel finished.  
  
“No.” Xavier shook his head. “In fact, there hasn’t been snow like this since…” He faltered. “The Legend of Zhan Tiri.”  
  
“Zhan Tiri?” Rapunzel and Varian asked in unison. Varian shivered a bit as he heard laughter in his head and Rapunzel’s brow furrowed, like she had heard it too – or maybe she was just worried about him.  
  
“Eons ago,” Xavier started, “an evil warlock, Zhan Tiri, had a deep hatred for Corona and cast a spell which caused a blizzard to sweep across the land. The storm destroyed _everything_ in its path. All would have been lost, had it not been for the ancient engineer and inventor, Lord Demanitus.”  
  
“Lord Demanitus.” Varian breathed. “Gothel’s old teacher?”  
  
Rapunzel looked at him, surprised. He realized he hadn’t told her that part of their conversation and smiled apologetically. He had _so_ much to tell her, it seemed.  
  
“Using both magic and science, Demanitus built a massive subterranean machine deep in the Corona mountains.” Xavier went on. “This mighty device had the ability to change the direction of the wind, and it pushed the flurries out to the sea. The day was saved. Zhan Tiri had, indeed, been defeated. But, some say the curse of the storm lives on, and is simply waiting to strike again.”  
  
“Waiting? For what?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“For Corona to be at its weakest.” Xavier said grimly.  
  
Varian frowned. With the black rocks everywhere, Corona was certainly suffering now.  
  
“But…it _is_ only a legend, right, Xavier?” Rapunzel asked nervously.  
  
Xavier chuckled. “My dear, _every_ legend is born of truth. Such as the Sundrop and Moonstone, for example.” He gestured to Varian’s hair, which was still glowing.  
  
Varian pursed his lips. “Where would this machine be if it was real? Do you have directions?”  
  
Xavier blinked. “If it were real…” He sighed. “I do know where it is. I will show you.”  
  
Varian nodded. “Alright, take me there.”  
  
“Varian?” Rapunzel frowned.  
  
“Rapunzel, we can’t _both_ go. You need to lead the Kingdom, and I know about this kind of stuff.” He turned to her. “I’ll go and activate the machine and end this storm.”  
  
“No, no!” She held him close to her. “My parents, Eugene, they’re all out there, I can’t lose you, too!” She smiled desperately.  
  
“I won’t be alone.” He assured her. “I’ll have Xavier, and Ruddiger.” He smiled at his ever-constant pet.  
  
“And me.” Cassandra walked over to them from where she was watching the snow fall outside the window. “I’ll go with him, too. I promise, Raps, he’ll be okay.”  
  
“Cassandra…” Rapunzel sniffled and then hugged both of them. “You promised! You promised that you’d be safe! Promise you’ll be safe too, Cass! I can’t lose you!”  
  
Cassandra smiled and hugged her. “I promise.”  
  
“Okay…” Rapunzel reluctantly let them go. “Be safe.”  
  
“Let me just get a few things, and then we’ll go.” Varian said, heading out of the library.  
  


Cassandra smiled and took Rapunzel’s hand. “He’ll be okay. You just focus on keeping people’s spirits up here, okay?”  
  
Rapunzel nodded with a shaky smile. “Okay.”  
  
Xavier stood up as Varian came back in, carrying his bag, his alchemy-bomb launcher strapped to his shoulder. “Let us be going, then.”  
  
Cassandra nodded and then Rapunzel followed them to the door to watch them leave together.  
  
\--  
  
Xavier led them through underground tunnels beneath Corona, where they couldn’t even hear the storm raging overhead. Varian looked around curiously as they walked, and Cassandra kept a close, wary look around. Though Xavier carried a torch, the dark area was lit up by Varian’s glowing, blue hair.  
  
“It’s not much farther!” Xavier assured them.  
  
“Don’t suppose you can turn that off?” Cassandra asked jokingly.  
  
Varian pulled his hood up, but it only barely muted it, like putting a cover over a lantern. He shrugged helplessly and she laughed a bit. “Guess not.”  
  
“Yeah, guess not.” Cassandra sighed, then frowned. “Hey, do you think it’s really the warlock?” She asked as they stopped at a point between three directions. Xavier picked one and they followed.  
  
“I don’t know. I’ve been hearing laughter in my head ever since the name was said, but that might just be the Moonstone.” He smiled wryly. “Whether the warlock is real or not, this storm _is_. And, if the machine does as the legend says, it _should_ stop it.”  
  
“Yeah…’if’ and ‘should’. We’re going all this way on a possibility.” Cassandra said, sighing heavily. “So, why is _your_ hair reacting to the storm and not Rapunzel’s?”  
  
“I’ve been trying to figure that out, actually.” Varian admitted. “My current theory is that, since she doesn’t have the actual Sun Powers right now, it’s not going to react to most magic. Or maybe the Moonstone magic is just reacting to the element of water. Or maybe it’s something else.”  
  
“Like?” She prompted.  
  
“Uhm…” Varian looked thoughtful. “Maybe, I’m just…activated. The black rocks, combined with the storm…”  
  
“Hey, Xavier?!” Cassandra realized they lost their guide.  
  
Xavier stopped and went back to them. “My apologies.”  
  
Varian sighed, looking up at the ceiling. He wondered where they would be right now, if they were on the surface.  
  
“We are almost there.” Xavier assured him.  
  
“Good.” Varian nodded, looking back at him. “Because the storm is only getting worse, and Rapunzel doesn’t do well under pressure.”  
  
They continued on until they reached a dead-end and Xavier paused. “According to the legends, there should be a passage here.”  
  
“ _Again_ with the ‘should’?” Cassandra frowned.  
  
Ruddiger chittered at Varian and he nodded before looking at Xavier. “It’s probably some kind of mechanism. He _was_ an alchemist, after all.”  
  
“Hm…” Xavier waved the torch around, then moved his hand against the wall. Something pushed in and then the wall opened up in front of them. “Ah!”  
  
“There we go.” Varian walked forward, Cassandra close behind him.  
  
They walked on through the tunnel until they came out into a wide-open area. Varian took down his hood and let the glowing of his hair light up the area they were standing, and then Xavier walked over to put the torch into some kind of vat. Almost instantly, the room lit up as the vat filled with fire, reaching all around the room to reveal the large machine in the center that protruded out of a massive pit.  
  
“Uh…wow. Don’t fall in.” Cassandra said awkwardly.  
  
“Lord Varian,” Xavier said, walking over to them. “I give you, the Demanitus Device.”  
  
“This is…amazing.” Varian breathed. “To think…he _built_ this.”  
  
“Well, it _looks_ cool, but does it _work_?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“Only one way to find out!” Varian said as they started down a long flight of steps.  
  
“Would it have killed him to put in a railing?” Cassandra asked.  
  
They reached the bottom and then crossed a bridge, stopping in front of the device. “Wow…” Varian grinned, feeling a rush of excitement in his body.  
  
“So… _this_ is the device that’s going to blow the storm out to sea?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“Not if we just stand here looking at it!” Varian looked at Xavier. “Let’s get this machine up and running!”  
  
He placed his hands on a turning mechanism and Cassandra ushered him back and took over, turning it with Xavier’s help as Varian stood back, though he tried to help several times before giving up and instead watching the machine as it activated.  
  
The sections up above started to move, the orb-like objects sticking out of the limbs striking the wall with lightning and making sections of the wall light up blue.  
  
“This is amazing!” He cheered, watching it work.  
  
The machine lit up and then fired off a blue light into the sky through an opening in the ceiling. Varian bobbed on his feet as he watched it work, his eyes shining.   
  
“So, _this_ is what Demanitus was capable of.” He whispered in awe.  
  
Ruddiger warily watched as rocks fell from the ceiling while the machine was running, keeping watch to make sure none of them hurt his boy. Especially since Varian was completely transfixed by the machine.  
  
The walls started to crack and then a rock fell down and landed in the gears. Varian looked down, then looked at Ruddiger before he reached into his bag and pulled out some rope. “Good thing I brought this, huh, buddy? Think you can get that rock?”  
  
“Is this a good idea?” Cassandra asked.  
  
Ruddiger chittered eagerly and he gently tied the rope around the raccoon before slowly starting to lower him down. “Just take it out quickly and then climb back up. Easy.” Varian told him, feeling confident in his pet’s reflexes.  
  
Ruddiger chittered at him before he looked down, focusing on his goal. He lowered down and then reached out a paw, the other paw hanging onto the rope. Varian watched anxiously, his hand tightly gripping the rope. Ruddiger wrapped his paw around the rock then tugged once, twice, three times and finally pulled it free. Almost instantly, the gears started so he snatched his paw away and scurried up the rope with the rock in his mouth. As soon as he got close enough, he jumped up and into his boy’s arms.  
  
“You did it! You did it, Ruddiger!” Varian cried, holding him tightly. “Cassandra, the machine!”  
  
“Right!” She went back to turning it with Xavier, the machine restarting again and firing the light into the sky again.   
  
Varian saw the light turn into a funnel of wind above them that whipped around the storm, forcing it to go the opposite direction, forcing it towards the sea. He gasped and held his head as he heard someone screaming something mixed into the sound of the wind. His hair stopped glowing and he looked at it in confusion before shrugging.   
  
Cassandra and Xavier stopped when they saw the storm had stopped and the machine shut down again. “We did it.” Cassandra smiled.  
  
“We did.” Varian stood up, holding Ruddiger in his arms. “Corona is safe.”  
  
“Let’s return to Rapunzel, I’m sure she’s anxiously waiting for us.” Cassandra said as they rejoined him.  
  
He nodded and took her hand as Xavier led the way out, feeling a bit relieved now that his hair was its normal color and had stopped glowing. Ruddiger spit out the rock as they entered the tunnel and licked Varian’s cheek, chittering happily.  
  
\--  
  
“You’re back!” Rapunzel cried, throwing her arms around them both as Varian and Cassandra came back. “And the glowing stopped!”  
  
“Yeah…” Varian rubbed his arm. “There might be something to that Zhan Tiri legend. I heard someone screaming something as the storm went away.”  
  
Rapunzel held him closer. “Well, they’re gone now. And we can finally rest easy…at least, once my parents get home safely with Eugene and the others.”  
  
Varian nodded, then looked up as they heard cheering. “Is that them?”  
  
Rapunzel ran out with Varian and Cassandra following. King Fredric and Queen Arianna were riding Maximus, and they got down and ran to hug the two as soon as they saw them. “You’re back! You’re safe!” Rapunzel cried, then looked at Eugene and broke from the hug to tearfully kiss him. “You’re all safe!”  
  
“Yeah, Blondie.” Eugene smiled and held her close, smiling at the ruffians and thugs with him. “We’re all safe.”  
  
“Thank you…thank you, all of you…” She sniffled.  
  
“Varian!”  
  
Varian gasped and left the Queen’s arms to see a man from Old Corona riding up to him on a horse. “Varian, it’s your father!”  
  
“What happened?!” He cried.  
  
“It’s...I don’t know! Something to do with the black rocks? He was doing alchemy…I went in to check on him when the storm stopped and—you have to see it!” The man said anxiously.  
  
Varian paled. “Rapunzel!”  
  
She nodded. “Cass! Get Fidella! We’re going to Old Corona!”  
  
\--  
  
Rapunzel and Eugene rode on Maximus, while Cassandra and Varian rode on Fidella. Varian clung to her anxiously, looking around her at the man leading the way. They reached Old Corona and he jumped off Fidella and ran inside.  
  
“Varian, wait!” Rapunzel cried, getting down off Maximus and following him in.  
  
“Dad?!” Varian looked around. “Dad, where—the lab.” He ran into the cellar and gasped, stopping short in horror.  
  
His father was there, a vial in one hand and a letter in another, desperately reaching for the sky. His entire body was encased in amber.  
  
“No…” Varian stepped closer, tears forming in his eyes. “No, no, no!” He ran over and banged on the ember. “Dad, N-n-no, please! Dad! Please!”  
  
“Varian!” Rapunzel ran in and knelt by his side, wrapping her arms around him.  
  
“No, no, no!” He started to sob. “This can’t…she took him from me! She took him! Just l-like my mother, she took him!”  
  
“’She’?” Eugene frowned.  
  
“The Moonstone.” Rapunzel explained. “It’s been manifesting as a woman in his dreams lately.”  
  
“No, please...” He looked at Rapunzel. “Isn’t there anything we can do?!”  
  
“Forgive the interruption…”  
  
Cassandra gasped and pulled out her sword, aiming it at the newcomers that had entered the house behind her. The woman looked unimpressed and the teenager with her just looked bored. “Who are you?!” Cassandra demanded.  
  
“Donella. Quirin sent for me.” She walked past her and to the amber-encased man. “I see that we were too late, however.”  
  
“Who…who are you?” Varian sniffled.  
  
Donella looked down at him. “Well, you’ve certainly grown, Varian. Then again, last I saw you, you were only a babe.” She offered him a hand up and he took it, though Rapunzel kept her hands on his shoulders as she warily eyed the woman.  
  
“You…” Varian gasped. “You’re my mother’s partner.”  
  
“So, do we know these people, or not?” Cassandra asked.  
  
Eugene looked at them, then did a double-take before sputtering and getting flustered as he looked at the teenager.  
  
“’Sup, Rider?” The teenager said, looking bored.  
  
\--  
  
The woman, Rapunzel learned, was Donella. She was with Varian’s mother trying to find the secret of his powers’ origins when his mother perished. The teenager was her son, Hugo. He was only a year older than Varian, a thief, and apparently had some kind of history with Eugene based on the flustered sputtering.  
  
After tearing Varian away from his father’s side, they all returned to the castle where Varian cried himself to sleep with his head on Rapunzel’s lap. Currently, they were gathered in their bedroom to talk.  
  
Cassandra had found Owl still in the house and brought him back with her, and Donella apparently had a hawk that she’d brought along and they were both perched on the balcony outside the open window.  
  
“So…” Eugene broke the brittle silence. “Quirin called for you?”  
  
“He thought that I could assist with the black rocks.” She sighed. “I owed him, so I came. However, it seems that he is now encased in amber, and all I know of the situation is what is in this letter.” She handed it to Rapunzel, who looked it over. “I am hoping you can fill in the blanks that he failed to. Who, exactly, is after Varian?”  
  
“I think, at this point, the list of who _isn’t_ after him would be shorter.” Cassandra remarked, then groaned. “Will you two get over whatever your issue is and get it out?”  
  
“Okay.” Hugo adjusted his glasses. “’ _Eugene’_?!”  
  
“Yes, that’s my name. Did you think I was the _real_ Flynn Rider?” Eugene frowned. “And why are you still doing crime?! Why do you have him doing crime?!”  
  
“I have him retrieving things for me, things that I require.” Donella sighed. “Hugo, what is your history with this man?”  
  
Hugo winced. “Well…you know when I failed to get those medals?”  
  
“This kid ended up working with me briefly after we went after the same thing. And, let me tell you, that was _not_ on my list of good experiences. He takes too many risks!” Eugene said firmly.  
  
“Not that it matters anymore, since I’m no longer a thief.” He added.  
  
“Oh? What do you do now, shine shoes?” Hugo asked.  
  
“No, I’m part of the Royal Guard.” Eugene said smugly, earning a sputtering gasp from the teen. “Also, I’m dating the princess that I saved from a tower, which is a _really_ fascinating—”  
  
“Eugene.” Rapunzel cut into their conversation. “Not now.”  
  
“Right.” Eugene nodded. “Later. So, what’s the letter say?”  
  
“Well, it’s all stuff that I know.” Rapunzel handed it back. “The one after Varian that he mentions is the Moonstone. She’s trying to force him to go to the Dark Kingdom and join her.”  
  
“Since when do rocks have genders?” Hugo remarked.  
  
“That’s what _I’m_ wondering.” Eugene admitted.  
  
“Varian calls it a ‘she’.” Rapunzel informed them patiently.  
  
“So…an, apparently, sentient legendary rock is trying to force Varian to go all the way to the Dark Kingdom.” Donella said thoughtfully. “And, in his efforts to stop its pursuit, Quirin meddled in alchemy that he could not fully comprehend and encased himself in amber.” She sighed. “Well, I suppose I will have to get to work then. For now, it is late and we need to find an inn.”  
  
“Oh, you can stay in the castle!” Rapunzel offered.  
  
“Raps, please stop giving thieves free reign of the castle.” Cassandra groaned. “First Lance, then those kids, now this guy?”  
  
“Hey, I only steal what I’m _told_ to steal.” Hugo said defensively.  
  
“And nothing in this castle interests me.” Donella assured them.  
  
“Really? Not even the princess’s crown?” Eugene asked jokingly.  
  
Cassandra groaned, Rapunzel giggled and Donella and Hugo just stared blankly.  
  
“I’m sure there’s an in-joke there I’m missing.” Hugo commented.  
  
“We accept your offer of hospitality, Your Highness.” Donella said calmly. “And then, tomorrow, Hugo and I will get to work on trying to solve the black rock and amber situation.”  
  
“Thank you.” Rapunzel said softly. “I don’t know if Varian could do that as he is. He’s just…so hurt…” She looked down at Varian, sighing softly as his hair started to glow.  
  
“That happens when he _sleeps_ , now?” Donella asked.  
  
“Why is his hair glowing?” Hugo asked.  
  
Eugene smirked.  
  
\--  
  
“You hurt him…” Varian said, his voice trembling.  
  
“I told you that he would suffer if he kept up his efforts. However, the amber is not _my_ doing, but his. He attempted to destroy the black rocks and was caught in his attempt.” The Moonstone was once again using Gothel’s voice and guise. “This is not my fault, Varian. If _anyone_ is to blame, it is _you_ for being so troublesome.”  
  
“Why won’t you just leave me alone?! You’re clearly managing just fine without me!” He snapped.  
  
“And a man can live without his hand, but does that mean he is perfectly fine with it being cut off?” She asked indignantly. “You know that you are mine, a part of me, and that it pains me – and you – for us to be apart!”  
  
“Just stay away from me!” He stood up, knocking over the chair he’d been sitting in. “You took my mother away - you took my father!”  
  
“I did not ‘take’ anything! Their perishing in the attempt to stop me from taking you back was of their _own_ doing! All _I_ am doing is trying to convince you to come home!” She said firmly. “No, Varian, this is not on me. This is entirely _your fault_. Or rather, your _father’s_ for taking you from me in the _first_ place.”  
  
Varian shook his head. “No…”  
  
“In fact, your mother is an innocent. A curious little thing, she just went far too deep and can’t come back out.” The Moonstone told him. “She only wanted information, information that your father _already knew_. She perished because he hid the truth. He hid what he had done!”  
  
“No…” Varian covered his ears.  
  
“The entire Brotherhood is to blame for the pain your mother endured, _not me_. I was only _protecting_ myself, and your father took you from me!” She reached out and grabbed his shoulders roughly. “If you come home, the pain will stop. I will withdraw my black rocks, and no one else needs to suffer. By refusing me, you are causing more pain and grief. This is YOUR FAULT!” She shoved him back and he gasped, falling back as the walls fell and he was once again in that wasteland.  
  
“ _Come to me.  
Come to me.  
Crescent high above,  
Evolving as you go,  
Raise what lies beneath  
And let the darkness grow.  
Let darkness grow._”  
  
He thrashed as black rocks moved over him, grabbing at him, and he cried out in fear and despair as he felt himself being engulfed.  
  
“Hey, kid! Stripes!”  
  
He blinked and saw a light. He desperately reached for it, and when it called out again, he groped at the light and felt himself being lifted into the air. He reached with both hands, fighting the black rocks.  
  
“Wake up!”  
  
\--  
  
He gasped like he was bursting out of water and looked up at a stranger with blond hair and glasses. “…What…?”  
  
“Oh, phew. I was kind of freaked out when you started thrashing around after everyone else left.” The stranger patted his cheek. “You seem okay. Good.”  
  
“Who…are you?” Varian asked.  
  
“Hugo, Donella brought me.” The other teenager nodded, helping Varian sit up. “The, uh, princess is taking Donella to where we’ll be sleeping for the night and showing her your lab in case there’s anything we can use to help your dad. No idea why they decided to trust _me_ to watch you.”  
  
The door opened and Cassandra came running in. “Varian!” She ran over and pulled him into her arms. “Are you okay?! I heard you screaming!”  
  
“I’m fine.” He assured her as she glared at the newcomer. “He, uh, saved me, actually. From her.”  
  
“Oh…well…that’s good, then.” She nodded, her expression softening. “I thought he hurt you.”  
  
“Give me _some_ credit.” Hugo rolled his eyes.  
  
Varian looked at him. “…Wait, who are you?”  
  
Hugo gave him an exasperated look and Cassandra laughed.  
  
“Your dad called your mother’s old partner for help.” Cassandra explained. “Hugo here came with her.”  
  
“Right…” Varian nodded. He vaguely remembered Donella, remembered talking to her. “Sorry, uh, Hugo.”  
  
“Pft, it’s fine. I’m just here as extra, anyway. I’m a packmule.” Hugo stuck out his tongue. “And, apparently babysitter.”  
  
“Babysitter?” Cassandra laughed. “You’re too close to the same age. You’re a playdate.”  
  
Hugo’s jaw dropped, and then he sighed. “Fine. Fine. Whatever.”  
  
Cassandra smirked and then looked at Varian. “How are you feeling?”  
  
“Pissed.” Varian said frankly. “The Moonstone was being terrible.”  
  
“Yeah, I’m still lost on that.” Hugo commented. “Apparently you have moon powers or something and it makes your hair glow?”  
  
“And when I get mad, black rocks appear.” Varian shrugged.  
  
“Black—wait, so all that is yours?” Hugo gestured to the window.  
  
“No, that’s the Moonstone’s. I just make little ones, unless I’m _really_ mad, and usually only in groups or one or three.” Varian shook his head.  
  
The door opened and Rapunzel looked in. “Hugo, Donella’s waiting for you in your bedroom. Do you want me to show you the way?”  
  
“Well, I didn’t suddenly become able to read minds.” Hugo said sarcastically as he walked over to her.  
  
Varian chuckled. “Night, Hugo.”  
  
“Uh…yeah. Night, Stripes.” He waved and walked out.  
  
“’Stripes’, huh?” Varian chuckled. ‘Come to think of it, he called me that earlier, too. It’s not so bad a nickname.’  
  
He sighed and walked over to climb out onto the balcony, Cassandra following him out. He placed his hands on the railing and looked out at the snowy landscape. “She’s not going to give up. I could be putting Donella and Hugo in danger by them being here.”  
  
“Well, they’re already here.” Cassandra shrugged. “And we’re not giving up, either.”  
  
“The black rocks will only get worse.” He looked at her. “You guys are trying so hard to protect me but am I even worth it?”  
  
“Of course you are.” Cassandra pulled him close and gently stroked his hair. “You’re worth every moment spent protecting you. Whether from black rocks, criminals, or even yourself.”  
  
He smiled sadly and clung to her. “I just...don’t think I am. My dad is trapped in amber, my mother is gone, and you’re all putting yourselves in danger. Maybe it’s better if I—"  
  
“Absolutely not.” Cassandra lightly whacked his head and he whined, rubbing the spot. “You’re not going to do anything stupid. Come on, let’s go talk to the King and let him know the situation.”  
  
Varian nodded and followed her out of the room, dreading talking about it with King Fredric.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Donella has joined the party, and she brought someone Varian's age to help! Can these two alchemists make a difference?


	21. 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the city recovers from the storm, an art gallery is announced to open up to lift everyone's spirits. Varian distracts himself by taking an art class that just opened up, but something is odd about the teacher...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

“I see…” King Fredric’s expression was grim as Cassandra explained what happened in Old Corona – Varian couldn’t get past a few words before he started sobbing and was now curled up in Queen Arianna’s arms. “Well…” He sighed. “Quirin told me that, in the event of…of something happening to him, that he wants me to take in Varian as my son. It is only temporary, I hope, but he’ll officially be a prince.”  
  
“There are two alchemists Quirin knows working on the problem.” Cassandra assured him. “I’m sure it won’t be too long.”  
  
“We can only hope.” King Fredric looked over at Varian and Arianna. “I will have guards assigned to guard the house, so nothing is taken in his…absence. Let us hope these alchemists succeed in rescuing Quirin, and in destroying the black rocks.  
  
\--  
  
“Gonna be frank,” Hugo said, looking up at the man encased in amber, “I have no idea where to start.”  
  
“I don’t know that Ulla would, either.” Donella sighed. “But, we’re already here, there are guards at the door, his son is being distracted…” She walked over to the worktable and looked over the alchemy tools. “I remember these…” She smiled fondly for a moment before her expression hardened and she tightened her gloves. “Let’s get to work.”  
  
“Yes, ma’am.” Hugo agreed, walking over to join her.  
  
\--  
  
Varian had mixed feelings about his new…title. On the one hand, he was practically a prince anyway, so there wasn’t much difference. On the other, it was bitter and constant reminder of the fact that his father was encased in amber from his efforts to get rid of the black rocks. Still, it was what his father wanted, so this was how it was.  
  
In the aftermath of the storm, people were still picking up the pieces - literally. It’d broken off pieces of roofs and walls. At least the storm was going away, he considered. It was a pretty warm day today, too, so Rapunzel was able to go around barefoot as she liked, so that eased some of her stress.  
  
Today, she was working on a mural for a new art gallery that was opening up, which would display works from everyone in Corona. As a result, everyone in the city was painting – or trying to.  
  
Varian cursed as another solution exploded, glass vial pieces scattering everywhere. He sighed and started to clean it up, frowning. Someone cleared their throat and he looked over to see Queen Arianna standing in the doorway. “Aunt Arianna.” He disposed of the pieces and turned to her, setting the broom to the side.  
  
“Having some trouble?” She asked.  
  
“I can’t focus.” He admitted. “I should be in Old Corona with Hugo and Donella, trying to solve the problem with the black rocks, not…not here in Corona Capital.”   
  
“You _know_ why you cannot go there, Varian.” Queen Arianna walked over and gently placed her hand on his shoulder. “It is too dangerous for you to go near Her black rocks.” She moved her hand up to gently cup his cheek. “Vari—oh.” She sighed as his streak started to glow.  
  
“I’m not…mad. Frustrated, but not mad. This is just…it’s just a thing. I think nearly dying in the money cart and being saved by Her broke it.” Varian glanced away. “That…or there’s something magical going on right now, like with the blizzard.”  
  
“Well, since you’re uncertain about that right now, and you can’t focus, why don’t you come and try painting something?” Queen Arianna suggested. “I’ve seen your drawings, I bet you could make something really good.”  
  
“Drawings and paintings are entirely different things. Pencils don’t drip.” He shook his head with a smile. “But…” He sighed and looked at Ruddiger, who nuzzled his leg. “I guess I can try something.”  
  
Queen Arianna smiled encouragingly and waited for him to remove his apron before he followed her out, Ruddiger hitching a ride on his shoulders.  
  
\--  
  
“Hm…” He tapped his finger on his cheek thoughtfully as he sat in front of the easel Rapunzel had helped him set up, always eager to help him with a new project.  
  
“You could try painting…me?” She suggested.   
  
“Mm, I’ll think about it.” He shrugged. “You should get back to your mural.”  
  
“Okay.” She kissed his temple and headed into the art gallery.  
  
He smiled after her, then sighed and picked up the paint brush, his gaze unreadable as he started to paint.   
  
He couldn’t focus…everything was just too much. The black rocks…the Moonstone…his magic going haywire… He was just grateful that there wasn’t a trail of black rocks following his every step.  
  
“Having some trouble, dear?”  
  
He gasped and looked around, surprised to see a woman that he’d never seen before standing behind him. “Wha—huh—waaaait a minute, who are you?” He asked as she walked to his side instead.  
  
“You may call me Miss Sugarby. I am an art teacher. I couldn’t help but notice that you seemed…distracted.” She gestured to the black lines on his canvas.  
  
“That’s one way of putting it.” He sighed and put the paint tray and brush down. “My father is encased in amber and my life is hounded by black rocks sent by a vindictive, possessive piece of _sentient rock_. I can’t focus on my alchemy, and now I’m finding the black rocks are even invading my painting.” He gestured to the line glumly.  
  
“Perhaps you should try painting from reference.” She suggested.  
  
Varian eyed her warily. She seemed…off. He was getting Gothel vibes from her, and his hair was still glowing. The fact she hadn’t mentioned it, when she was clearly not from around here, was suspicious.  
  
Still…maybe he was just being paranoid. Maybe she just barely noticed because it was daytime, or she just didn’t want to be rude by pointing out the obvious.  
  
Granted, he did get a little bit of a kick out of Eugene and now Hugo freaking out about the “magical, glowing hair”. He never realized how much he missed the reaction after Eugene got used to it. Hugo had still not gotten used to it by breakfast and, from the way he was eyeing his streak like he thought it was going to turn into a snake and bite him, he doubted he _ever_ would adjust to it.  
  
Maybe the whole concept of magic was something Hugo couldn’t quite grasp.  
  
Oh, right, he was in the middle of a conversation. She seemed to be patiently waiting for him to stop spacing out and he gave an apologetic smile.  
  
“I guess I could try that, but I can’t decide what to paint.” He admitted.  
  
“Come to my art class.” She suggested. “I have something that all my students use for reference, and a quiet space to paint.”  
  
He shrugged and got up before following her. “Okay.”  
  
She led him to a tent with five easels, four other people already painting. The shoemaker, - Feldspar – the castle maid with the unnatural face, – Friedborg – Ulf the Mime, and Lance Strongbow. He nodded in greeting to Lance as he stood at the easel next to him and Lance grinned back before they looked forward.  
  
“The object you will be painting,” she said as she closed the flaps of the tent, “is this.” She pulled a cloth off what looked like a little tree, only without any leaves. “Use this as your reference.”  
  
“Seems easy enough.” Varian said thoughtfully, tilting his head from side to side before he picked up the paintbrush, the others doing the same.  
  
The good thing about having such a good memory was that he didn’t have to keep looking over at the reference to imitate it and could instead focus on the painting without having to look away from the easel.   
  
“There.” He moved the paintbrush away finally and smiled. “That looks about right.”  
  
Miss Sugarby walked over and smiled. “My dear, it’s _perfect_. Truly, you have a gift for this.”  
  
He smiled at her. “Thank you. May I take this home?”  
  
“By all means.” She nodded. “Of course, _after_ the paint has dried.”  
  
“Right, of course.” Varian nodded.  
  
“I think mine looks pretty good.” Lance said, standing back to look at his painting.   
  
Varian looked over and giggled a bit. It looked a lot more…well, it looked like Ruddiger painted it. “Looks good, Lance.”  
  
Lance grinned and then put a price tag on his painting before walking out of the tent with it.  
  
“No one is going to buy that.” Varian said quietly to Ruddiger, who was wrapped around his shoulders as usual. Ruddiger just chittered and shrugged and he laughed a bit.  
  
“I am so very proud of you for the progress you have made in just one day.” Miss Sugarby said, drawing his attention to her. “I hope you will come tomorrow as well? You may take the picture now.”  
  
Varian took the painting off the easel. “Yeah, this was a nice distraction. Thank you.”  
  
“Of course.” She smiled and bowed slightly. “Take care of yourself, your highness.”  
  
He blinked, then realized that she was probably in town for the announcement. “You too.” He nodded and headed out with his picture.  
  
She smiled after him, tapping her cane on the ground slowly.  
  
\--  
  
“Hey, Varian!” Cassandra greeted as he saw Varian come in from town. “Heard you went to go join the other painters! Got something for the art gallery?”  
  
“Not yet.” Varian shrugged. “I joined a painting class, though. That’s kind of fun.”  
  
Cassandra sheathed the sword she was practicing with. “Well, can I see the painting?”  
  
“Sure, I’ll set it up in our room.” Varian walked on and she followed.  
  
\--  
  
“Well, it’s…uh…” Cassandra tilted her head from side to side.  
  
“It’s painted from reference.” Varian told her. “Looks pretty accurate to the original.”  
  
“I’d have to see the reference myself.” She nudged him with a smile. “Looks good, though. A little bleak, but good!”  
  
“I mean, it was either this or black rocks.” Varian shrugged.  
  
“Where’s Raps?” Cassandra looked around.  
  
“Still working on that mural.” Varian shrugged, grabbing some paper and a pencil and starting to draw something else.   
  
Cassandra peeked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. “Why are you drawing that Hugo guy?”  
  
“I dunno. I guess because I feel…grateful to him? She almost got me, Cassie.” He sighed. “I was being pulled in, buried in the darkness, and then he called out to me and it broke me out of it, woke me up.”  
  
“Really?” She mused. “Well, he doesn’t _seem_ that special.”  
  
“I don’t know.” Varian went back to his drawing.  
  
“So…you joined an art class, but how’s your alchemy going?” She asked curiously.   
  
He sighed. “It’s not. I can’t focus on it.” He walked over to the window and stepped out to the balcony, where he leaned over it and gripped the railing tightly. Cassandra stepped out after him, waiting for him to continue if he wanted to, or to just be there if he needed it.  
  
“This is my fault.” He said softly, the wind blowing through his hair, the glowing streak moving in and out of his vision. “Everything. While I’m hiding here, more people are putting themselves at risk because of me. How can I focus on alchemy like this? How can I do anything but feel…bleak?”  
  
Cassandra sighed and leaned against the railing. “I get it. But, you’re _not_ to blame, Varian. Not for _any_ of this.”  
  
Varian clenched his fists a bit. “You’re right.”  
  
 _“The entire Brotherhood is to blame for the pain your mother endured, not me. I was only protecting myself, and your father took you from me!”_  
  
“The Brotherhood…is to blame.” He said softly, his eyes glowing now.  
  
“What’s ‘the Brotherhood’?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“…I don’t know.” He admitted, shaking his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Varian seems to be growing a soft spot for the other teenage alchemist.


	22. 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever since he started going to that art class, Varian has been acting strange, and now there's missing people in town! Since Varian isn't acting like himself, it's up to Rapunzel, Cassandra and Eugene to find out what happened!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

Something was wrong with Varian.  
  
People had been going missing without a trace over the last two days, and he wasn’t sitting at his desk trying to piece together the reasons or where they had gone. Instead, he was going out like clockwork to the art class and then sitting quietly to read in the bedroom.  
  
“Varian?” Rapunzel decided to try getting to the bottom of this. “Is everything okay?”  
  
“I’m trying to read, Rapunzel.” He said, turning a page.  
  
“Yes, but…that’s a fairytale book.” Rapunzel pointed out. “Not even a Flynnigan Rider one.”  
  
“What’s wrong with that?” He turned another page.  
  
“You _never_ read fairytale books, you find them too unrealistic and illogical.” Rapunzel shrugged. “I’m just wondering—”  
  
“Well, maybe, since my _life_ has become completely illogical, I’m opening up to them more! You ever think about that?” He got up and put the book away. “I mean, come on, I have a _sentient rock haunting my dreams!_ You don’t get any more unrealistic and illogical than that!”  
  
“Vari—”  
  
“And maybe, just _maybe_ , I want to read a story where there’s a happy ending, because I SURE AS HELL DON’T HAVE ONE!” Varian wiped at his eyes. “It’s either I give myself up to the moonstone, or everyone I love suffers! So, _excuse me,_ if I am just trying to escape from my messed-up reality for a time!”  
  
“Varian, I know that it’s hard—”  
  
“You _know_?!” He turned to her, a black rock growing in the corner of the ceiling. “You _know_ about what I’m going through? _Really_ , sis? Because, last I checked, _you_ didn’t have a sentient rock _clawing_ at you every night!”  
  
“No, but I had _Gothel_ when I was growing up!” She stood up, tears forming in her eyes. “And I _know_ what it’s like to be hunted for powers that you never _asked_ for! To have to watch your loved one DIE because _you didn’t give in_! I…she _killed_ Eugene, Varian! We almost lost him! If I didn’t have some power left, just enough to _save_ him…” She started sobbing and fell to her knees.  
  
Varian stared at her, then his eyes glowed white briefly before he turned and walked out, closing the door behind him.  
  
“…Uhm…”  
  
Rapunzel gasped and looked to the side to see…”Hugo?”  
  
“Yeah…I came to talk to him about the, y’know, _amber_ thing…is this a bad time? He seems…mad.” Hugo looked at where Varian had stormed off to.  
  
Rapunzel sighed. “I…I don’t know. He’s acting strange.”  
  
“Does the perpetually-glowing _hair_ have anything to do with it? Or the white eyes he had for a bit?” Hugo asked awkwardly, not sure how to approach her. He didn’t do well with crying people…  
  
“White eyes?” Rapunzel frowned, wiping at her eyes. “That’s new. Hugo, we have to find Varian.”  
  
“Uh…okay?” Hugo shrugged. “Wouldn’t you prefer Rider, though?”  
  
“ _You’re_ already here.” She grabbed his wrist and pulled him along.  
  
“Well, okay. So…uhm…can I just… _what_ was that argument?” Hugo asked as she pulled him along.  
  
“Something that shouldn’t have happened.” Rapunzel said, looking into different rooms. “Varian, where did you go?”  
  
“Yeah, I get that, he’s acting weird. But, uh… _you_ have powers, too?” Hugo raised an eyebrow.  
  
Rapunzel sighed. “What do you know about the legend of the Sundrop and the Moonstone?”  
  
“I dunno, would they sell for a lot?” Hugo shrugged. “I don’t really listen to legends, they’re just distractions.”  
  
“Well, _this_ legend is real, and…” She sighed. “Long ago—”  
  
“Oh boy, storytime.” Hugo said sarcastically. Rapunzel shot him a glare and he grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. Continue?”  
  
She nodded. “Long ago, there was a great disturbance in the heavens. The sun and the moon both had pieces of them break off and they fell to the world below. Those pieces became the Sundrop Flower and the Moonstone Opal.”  
  
“How did a piece of the sun turn into a flower?” Hugo asked. “That doesn’t make any form of scientific sense.”  
  
“Magic.” Rapunzel said, then went on. “The Moonstone Opal fell to the Dark Kingdom, where it was protected and worshiped by the people there. The Sundrop Flower was left alone, until a witch found it and used it to keep herself young, beautiful and immortal. Then, one day, the King of the Dark Kingdom decided to destroy the Moonstone Opal. Which, I only know because Varian told me about this. When that happened, a wave of energy shot out and hit the man that would be Varian’s father, Quirin. As a result, Varian was born with a piece of the Moonstone inside of him. But, between the time that Quirin was hit by the wave and Varian was born, the Sundrop Flower was found by the royal family of Corona, who took it to save their dying, pregnant queen. Then I was born with…the healing Sun powers of the Sundrop Flower.” She stopped and clutched at her hair. “I was taken as a baby by the witch that used the flower before and, twelve years later, she took Varian as well. He was eight.”  
  
“That’s a _fascinating_ story.” Hugo said, looking in a room. “Nope, not here.” He closed the door.  
  
“She kept us for years, using my hair to keep her young, forcing Varian to stay with her just because she was greedy and wanted the Moonstone. Something about research.” Rapunzel went on. “When I was going to turn eighteen, Flynn Rider came to our tower by chance and took us to freedom. Well, he took us to the city at our, uh, blackmail? We took something of his. Or rather, something he stole. My crown. Which I didn’t _know_ was my crown until after I’d been to the festival and then got tricked into thinking he traded me and Varian for the crown that Mo-- _Gothel_ had found and given us to give to him and then we got home and I had a whole realization moment like ‘I am the lost princess’! And then she chased us with Varian’s goo bombs and then chained us up and when Eugene came to save us, she stabbed him! So, I tried to save him, but he cut my hair—”  
  
“He cut your hair?” Hugo looked at her long hair skeptically.  
  
“—to remove the magic and she died clinging to it, turned to dust! And then I returned home and was happy with my family until I went outside the Kingdom briefly and ran into these black rocks and Varian started glowing and then he started freaking out and I touched one of them by accident and then we got knocked out by this big, glowy blast, and when we came to my hair was turning blonde and glowing and—”  
  
“Uh, wait, you’re going too fast now.” Hugo cut in.  
  
“—then the rocks started chasing us so we had to run, and then my hair just, WHOOSH, grew out to 70 feet again, all blonde, and I kind of panicked but we were still being chased and—”  
  
“I didn’t ask for your life story.” Hugo said, but she ignored him.  
  
“—then Varian tried to summon the rocks to stop it because he got real angry and when he gets angry, black rocks come out—”  
  
“Wait, _every_ time?” Hugo asked.  
  
“—but the new rocks just smashed right through! So, we kept running, and then we finally got to a certain point that the rocks stopped but I had to use my hair to keep us from falling to our deaths because the bridge we were on broke—”  
  
“You used your _hair_?!”  
  
“—and when we got up I was like ‘oh my god, I need to cut my hair’, but we found out it was indestructible and later we found out it’s also lost its healing powers—”  
  
“Bummer.”  
  
“--and then I find out that, apparently, the Moonstone is awake and sentient and apparently by us going out there near those black rocks that sprouted where the Sundrop Flower was taken from, we let the Moonstone know that Varian exists and where he is and now she’s—”  
  
“Right, because it has a gender. You mentioned that.” Hugo nodded.  
  
“—hunting Varian down and he’s _really_ upset, but he’s _never_ acted like this, he’s never made me cry or, if he did, he never just walked away! So, yeah, something’s wrong with him and we need to find him before something happens to my brother!” Rapunzel ran off.  
  
Hugo stared blankly, then turned and followed her. “Okay, Princess!”  
  
\--  
  
They found Varian sitting on the docks, humming to himself. Rapunzel approached him cautiously and Hugo cleared his throat. “Princess? If I may?”  
  
“Oh…okay.” She stepped back and let the teen walked over to Varian, instead. She brought a hand to her chest anxiously.  
  
“Hey, Stripes.” Hugo said, catching his attention.  
  
“Hugo.” Varian looked up at him. “Weren’t you in Old Corona?”  
  
“Psh, she said I was ‘underfoot’.” Hugo sat down and sighed heavily. “So, I figured I’d find you.”  
  
“Well, you found me.” Varian shrugged, looking out at the sea.  
  
“What’s so interesting over there?” Hugo asked, looking out as well.  
  
“I dunno.” Varian shrugged.  
  
“Then, what’s the point of looking?” Hugo asked.  
  
“I dunno.” He leaned on Hugo a bit and his face went a bit pink. “Does everything need to have a point? Can’t we just enjoy a little pointless pleasure?”  
  
“Heh, I guess so.” Hugo shrugged. “So, I hear you’ve gotten into painting. Actually, the whole town has. Not really my thing, but people seem to be enjoying themselves.”  
  
“There’s an art gallery. Rapunzel is working on a mural.” Varian smiled.  
  
“Yeah? That’s pretty cool.” Hugo nodded. “So…prince now, huh? Temporarily.”  
  
“Yeah.” Varian sighed. “I mean, it doesn’t change much, I was always an ‘honorary prince’ before.” He looked down. “What if…there’s no way to get him out?”  
  
“Hey, don’t be like that.” Hugo nudged him. “You’re an alchemist, aren’t you? Be positive. Every mistake is a step towards success!” He raised his hand up to the sky ahead of them. “We’ll keep trying and trying until we figure this out!” He grinned. “And, well, if we have to punch a sentient rock to free him, then we’ll punch it.”  
  
Varian laughed a bit.  
  
Hugo nudged him. “By the way, your, uh, sister seemed kind of upset when I saw her. Think you should go check on her?”  
  
“I don’t know.” Varian leaned his head on Hugo’s shoulder and he blushed again. “I’m pretty comfortable right here.”  
  
Hugo looked over his shoulder at Rapunzel and shrugged one shoulder before he looked back at Varian. “…Okay, then.”  
  
Rapunzel sighed and walked away, then gasped when Cassandra suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her along. “Cass?”  
  
“You need to see something.” Cassandra said anxiously.  
  
\--  
  
“I…don’t understand.” Rapunzel said, looking at the two pictures in front of her.   
  
“These were found in the Snuggly Duckling and Friedborg’s room.” Cassandra explained.  
  
“And?” Eugene asked.  
  
Cassandra looked at them. “Ulf and Friedborg are MISSING.”  
  
“…Oh.” Rapunzel’s eyes widened. “Varian has something just like this. Just… _like_ this. It’s in our room.”  
  
“Yeah, I remember.” Cassandra nodded. “Where is Varian now?”  
  
“Well, he’ll be coming to bed soon. He was out with Hugo, though.” Rapunzel looked at her.  
  
“I don’t know if I approve of him hanging out with that thief kid.” Eugene frowned.  
  
“Says the ex-thief.” Cassandra smirked.  
  
“Which is _exactly_ why I know I don’t want him hanging out with Hugo. And why isn’t he in Old Corona?” Eugene asked.  
  
“He wanted to talk to Varian about the amber.” Rapunzel said distractedly. “You two look into this, I’ll go make sure Varian is okay!” She hurried out of the room.  
  
Cassandra and Eugene looked at each other and nodded firmly before they headed out together. “Where was he taking that art class?” Cassandra asked as they ran.  
  
“This way!” Eugene led the way.  
  
\--  
  
“Varian?” Rapunzel opened the door and ran in, then gasped. He wasn’t in bed. Well, that could be nothing, after all he often went out on night walks. Still…  
  
She heard a rustling sound and looked down to see Ruddiger coming towards her. “Ruddiger!” She knelt and lifted him into her arms. “Have you seen Varian?”  
  
The concerned chittering and arm movements alarmed her and she set him down before they both ran from the room and out to town.  
  
“Rapunzel!” Eugene called to her. She ran over to them and saw Xavier looking grim. “There’s some really bad news.”  
  
“What is it?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“When we used the Demanitus Device, we unwittingly _freed_ something, something _terrible_.” Xavier said with a terrified expression. “The disciples of Zhan Tiri.”  
  
“Zhan Tiri?” Rapunzel gasped. “The warlock that sent the blizzard?”  
  
“Lord Demanitus was in a constant battle with Zhan Tiri and his brethren.” Xavier explained. “Over the years, Demanitus captured many of the evil spirits and held them prisoner in _that chamber_.”  
  
Cassandra looked concerned. “So, what you’re saying is that when we used that device, we may have _freed_ those evil spirits and—”  
  
“And now one of those minions is trying to free their master.” Xavier said, as Rapunzel numbly walked closer. “I’m afraid she’s going to use little Varian and others to do it.”  
  
“Then, we have to find them!” Rapunzel cried. Ruddiger growled his agreement.  
  
“And if we don’t?” Eugene asked shakily.  
  
“Then, they are all in _grave danger_.” Xavier said grimly.  
  
“Princess!” Hugo ran up to them, looking out of breath. “Princess, something is _seriously_ wrong with Varian! He’s at some freaky tree—"  
  
“You know where they are?!” Rapunzel cried.  
  
Hugo nodded, panting heavily. “This…This way!” He turned and ran back the way he came, Rapunzel, Eugene, Cassandra and Ruddiger following him.   
  
Maximus and Fidella neighed as they ran to join them and Eugene climbed onto Maximus and grabbed Hugo to put him in front of him while Cassandra rode with Rapunzel and Ruddiger on Fidella.  
  
“Just give us directions!” Eugene said firmly, and Hugo nodded, too exhausted from his run back to complain.  
  
\--  
  
“It’s time for your final project.” Miss Sugarby said, leaning close to Varian’s ear.   
  
Varian didn’t reply, his eyes glowing white as he held the paintbrush in front of the empty canvas, one of five around a tree. Ulf, Lance, Friedborg and Feldspar were standing at the other ones, their eyes all glowing like his. His hair was glowing completely blue now, a reaction to whatever magic had been cast on him.  
  
\--  
  
“I know where we’re headed!” Cassandra realized. “They must be at Janus point!”  
  
“What’s Janus Point?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“A really old monument.” Cassandra spurred them on faster. “Hurry!”  
  
“Hurry, Max!” Eugene urged, but Maximus was already running faster.  
  
\--  
  
“Go ahead, little prince.” Miss Sugarby said, walking over to light torches around them. “By painting this idol exactly, you are pledging your allegiance to Zhan Tiri.”  
  
“Zhan…Tiri…” Varian said softly.  
  
“And it will be that allegiance that frees our master from his otherworldly prison!” She declared excitedly.  
  
Varian blinked, slowly coming back to himself. “No…I can’t.”  
  
She sighed and walked over to him. “Varian, dear, I know all those difficult things you’ve encountered.” She said soothingly. “Darling, I promise that you will _never_ have to fear being taken from your family and friends again.”  
  
She started to tap her cane on the ground and Varian gasped as his eyes started to glow white again. Every one of the painters moved towards their canvases to start painting the idol before them.   
  
“Yes, that’s it!” Miss Sugarby cried in delight as Varian’s brush moved against the canvas. A pink light came out of the canvas and started to move along the roots of the tree so that it started to glow. “Once this totem has been recreated five times, the portal shall open and Zhan Tiri shall again be free!”  
  
A pink light shot out of the tree and into the sky, where a portal started to open. “It’s working!” She cheered.  
  
“Oh, you are just a terrible teacher!” Eugene said as the rescue party rode into the area.  
  
“Let him go, Sugarby.” Cassandra said firmly.  
  
“Please, Sugarby was merely the vessel I chose to suit my purpose.” The woman sneered before her eyes glowed green as her body changed into a green-skinned, floating woman with glowing eyes and leather clothes. “I am Sugracha the Eternal! And I can take _so_ many forms!”  
  
“Uh, any chance we can stick with the sweet old-lady form?” Eugene asked nervously. “’Cause, I’m kind of missing her already!”  
  
“Princess…what the fuck is that?” Hugo said, pointing at the portal.  
  
“It’s…I don’t know.” Rapunzel hopped down off Fidella and let down her hair as Eugene and Cassandra jumped down. “But I’m not letting it hurt my brother!”  
  
“Kid, you get Varian to snap out of it! We’ll handle the creep!” Eugene said, running with the other two to fight.  
  
“…Right. Yeah. I’ll just…approach the guy with _glowing eyes_ that _summons rocks when he gets angry_ and tell him to stop painting.” Hugo said, climbing down off of Maximus and walking over to Varian. “Way to give a guy an easy job, Rider.” He added, watching as Maximus and Fidella ran to join the battle.  
  
“Here goes.” He stopped next to Varian, who was calmly painting away. “Hey, Stripes!” He called.  
  
No response. “Hm…” He reached out and grabbed his arms, gasping sharply as he was hit by some kind of green lightning. “S-Stripes! Snap out of it!  
  
The whatever-THAT-is in the portal growled at him and Hugo decided he was not liking this any bit, not one bit. “Stripes!” He cried, trying to get his attention.  
  
“Hu…go?”  
  
Finally! “Yeah, it’s me. Look, you gotta wake up, you’re summoning a freaky demon thing!” He insisted.  
  
“Kid, we REALLY need you to wake him up!” Eugene cried, the others now floating helplessly while glowing green.  
  
“I’m TRYING!” Hugo yelled back. “Come on, come on…Got it!” He grabbed Varian’s face and kissed his nose.  
  
Varian’s eyes widened and then a blush creeped up his face before the glowing vanished from his eyes and he stumbled back, dropping the paintbrush as he moved his gloved hands over his nose. “Uhhhhhhh….”  
  
“Whoa!” Hugo and Varian gasped and looked up to see the others all hovering over a cliff’s edge.  
  
“No!” Varian cried. “Don’t let them fall, please, I beg of you!”  
  
“Stripes.” Hugo frowned, then yelped and ran to hide behind Varian when the woman changed back into her “human” form.  
  
“My dear, whether or not they fall is completely up to you.” She told him with a sly smirk. “Finish my spell and I’ll spare them.” She tapped her cane on the ground. “The choice is _yours_.”  
  
Varian groaned, holding his head.  
  
“Think about how much simpler and easier everything would be, if you just finish that painting.” She moved her hand to his, putting the paintbrush back in his hand. “No more fear…no more regrets. No more of your loved ones being hurt. Give in to Zhan Tiri.”  
  
“No!” Hugo ran forward and shoved the woman. She stumbled back and looked at him, offended. “Stripes, I don’t know _what_ that thing is, but you gotta stop doing whatever _this_ is!”  
  
“Silence!” Sugracha held out a hand and Hugo cried out in pain as he was electrocuted by green lightning and lifted into the air like the others.  
  
“Don’t…hurt…my…FRIEND!”  
  
She gasped as Varian’s eyes started to glow blue to join his already-glowing hair and he held out a hand, a wave of black rocks coming out of the ground to attack her. Then he held out another hand and the canvases were all destroyed by black rocks, as well as the idol they were painting. They all then burst into pink flame and reduced to ash among the black rocks.  
  
“No! What have you done!?” Sugracha cried in horror.  
  
“Get AWAY from me!” Varian shot out another wave of black rocks and it hit her, sending her flying into the portal with the creature. The creature in the portal let out a roar as the portal shrank down and then vanished, nothing but pink dust in its wake before that too was gone.  
  
With her defeated, everyone that was floating was suddenly released. Rapunzel, Cassandra and Eugene started to fall and Varian ran over and held out a hand, a black rock extending. Rapunzel got the idea and used her hair to lasso it and stop their fall as she grabbed Eugene and Cassandra.  
  
“Oh, hey!” Hugo ran over and he and Varian started to pull them up, with Maximus and Fidella coming over from where they dropped safely down to help.  
  
When they were all safely up, Varian let out a sigh of relief as his hair, finally, stopped glowing. “That was…not nice.”  
  
“I have _so_ many questions.” Hugo said, drawing his attention to him. “But, I guess the first is…are we friends?”  
  
Varian laughed a bit. “Yeah, I guess we are.”  
  
“Cool.” Hugo nodded. “…Never had a friend my age before.”  
  
“Let’s get everyone back home.” Eugene said as Rapunzel ran over and hugged Varian tightly.  
  
“Rapunzel!” He clung to her, then gasped. “Rapunzel, I—I said so many horrible things, I made you _cry_ , I—how could I _do_ that to—” He stopped when she kissed his forehead.  
  
“That’s my little brother.” She smiled and hugged him again.  
  
Cassandra smiled and walked over to help them up. “Well…we better start going back.” She looked at the other people. “…Maybe go get the Royal Guard to help.”  
  
“I’ll go do that.” Eugene walked over and knelt to hug Varian, then looked at Hugo and placed his hand on his shoulder. “You did good, kid. Thanks.”  
  
“Uh…right.” Hugo said awkwardly. “Thanks, Rider.”  
  
“Eugene.” Eugene corrected.  
  
“Still getting used to that. Cut me some slack, it’s only been a few days.” Hugo shrugged.  
  
Eugene laughed. “Okay, kid.”  
  
“Hugo.” Hugo raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Hugo.” Eugene nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, THAT was fun! Let's hope there isn't any more of Zhan Tiri's minions out there somewhere!


	23. 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian thinks that Gothel has answers in written form at the tower, but he's not allowed to go alone. Good thing Hugo is eager to go along!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

“So, to summarize, Zhan Tiri was an evil warlock that Lord Demanitus battled and defeated. But, apparently Zhan Tiri is able to come back from where Demanitus sent him, which is where the creepy painting class comes in.” Varian explained over breakfast the next morning. Hugo had passed out when they got back and had stayed the night in the castle. “And, apparently, there are other minions too, so this might not be the only time something like this happens. Rapunzel and I are the Sundrop and the Moonstone, so we’re likely to be targets. So, decide now if you actually wanna stick around for more possible dark magic stuff.”  
  
“…Well, _gosh_ , Stripes. I already battled _one_ minion, what’s a million more?” Hugo sighed heavily. “Donella says that the amber isn’t normal amber. It’s still the black rocks, just slightly different. So, it will probably take magic to melt it and free your father.”  
  
Varian pursed his lips. “Magic…”  
  
“Yeah. Which, uh, I _totally_ didn’t believe in until…how the fuck do you explain _that thing_ scientifically?” He ran his hands through his hair. “Plus, there’s all your glowing and summoning black rocks from the ground, which was _pretty badass_ , by the way.”  
  
“Hugo?” Eugene walked over to him and placed his hand on his head. “Stop saying bad words around Varian.”  
  
“Bad words?” Varian laughed a bit.  
  
“Just stop, okay?” Eugene raised an eyebrow.  
  
Hugo sighed. “Don’t censor me, Rider. You know I don’t like to have to be careful with my words.”  
  
Varian cleared his throat. “So…magic?”  
  
“Yeah, that’s what she says. To be frank, I didn’t know she even believed in that. But, I guess it’s kind of hard _not_ to, looking at you.” Hugo shrugged.  
  
“Alright. I’ll look into the magic angle, then. I’m sure Xavier knows something, or maybe I can find some books…” Varian sighed, “…at the tower.”  
  
Eugene rubbed the back of his head. “Well, I got important stuff to do, so…you might have to wait until someone can take you there, because we aren’t going to let you go out to the tower by yourself.”  
  
Varian sighed. “Okay…”  
  
Hugo shrugged, then looked over as Eugene left them alone. “…Well…that happened.”  
  
Varian got up and headed out of the room, Ruddiger following. Hugo shrugged and followed him. “Sooo…”  
  
“Hm?” Varian looked at him.  
  
“They said that you aren’t allowed to go to the tower _by yourself_ , right?” Hugo asked slyly.  
  
“Yeah.” Varian sighed.  
  
“They didn’t say ‘with a guard’.” Hugo grinned. “If _I_ go with you, it’s no longer ’ _by yourself_ ’.”  
  
Varian blinked, then grinned. “Okay, let’s go.”  
  
\--  
  
“We’re going to get in _so_ much trouble when they find out.” Varian said as Hugo rowed them across the water and to the mainland.  
  
“Meh.” Hugo shrugged. “They know where you’ll be.”  
  
They reached the mainland and climbed out, heading into the woods.  
  
“So…this tower. It’s where Gothel kept you, right?” Hugo guessed.  
  
“Yeah.” Varian nodded. “She did studies on the Moonstone and Sundrop with Demanitus, she has to have _something_ on the black rocks.”  
  
Varian found the entryway and pushed aside the vines, leading him in. He looked up at the tower, his expression grim. Hugo looked around it curiously. “So…how are we getting up?”  
  
“There’s a trapdoor.” He walked over to the back and led Hugo up and inside, pushing open the trapdoor. “Here we are.” He got up and offered him a hand up.  
  
Hugo took his hand and climbed up into the tower. “Wow.” He looked around. “Yep. You lived here.” He poked at a black rock near the trapdoor.  
  
“Hah, yeah, that honestly annoyed her.” Varian looked around, biting his lip as memories washed over him. Why did he keep coming back here? It always hurt to come back here, but he kept doing it. “…Come on. Her books are probably in her room.” He headed for it.  
  
“Check out all this _stuff_.” Hugo said as he followed him. “Oh, hey, what’s up those stairs?”  
  
“My old bedroom.” Varian replied.  
  
Hugo decided to go up those stairs instead of following Varian. Varian let him do that and creaked open Gothel’s bedroom door before slowly stepping in, pushing it open wider as he did.  
  
Mirrors, mirrors everywhere. He sighed and walked over to a chest by the bed and struggled to open it. “Ugh, it’s locked! Where’s the key?” He started to look around.  
  
“Let me at it.” Hugo walked in and pulled a small, thin object out of his pocket before he knelt down and stuck the object into the lock, sticking his tongue out as he worked and humming a bit.  
  
“What’s that?” Varian asked.  
  
“Lockpick, every thief worth anything has one.” Hugo replied, then let out an “aha!” sound before he moved the lock and opened the chest. “Ohhh, look at all this stuff!”  
  
Varian walked over and knelt down to look inside the chest.  
  
Books, trinkets, curiosities of all kinds were inside, and he took one of the books and blew dust off it before he opened it. “Wow…just _look_ at all this! This is amazing!”  
  
“Is it?” Hugo took off his glasses and wiped them clean of dust before putting them back on and looking over his shoulder.  
  
Varian looked at him. “Yes, there’s so much information here on her studies! Let me just see here…” He frowned. “’I dare not write the Moon incantation I found at the Great Tree. If that little brat were to learn it, it would surely kill me’. What’s the Great Tree?”  
  
Hugo shrugged. “Is she talking about you?”  
  
“Must be.” Varian read through the book. “Looks like she deliberately avoided writing down anything anyone but her could actually use. She was always selfish.” He dug into the box and found a rolled-up parchment. Unrolling it, he found it was a map. “Look.” He pointed to something on it. “The Great Tree.”  
  
“If the incantation she didn’t want you to know is so powerful it could kill her, maybe it can save your dad.” Hugo suggested.  
  
“Hey, Varian!” Cassandra’s voice called, followed by a giggle.  
  
“Uh oh.” Varian left the room and went to look out the window. “Yes?”  
  
“Rapunzel says that you gotta get your butt back to the castle or she’s gonna lock you in a tower.” Cassandra giggled. “And I told her ‘but he’s already in a tower’! Anyways, Raps wants you to come back home now, okay?” She swayed from side to side.  
  
“…Why is she acting not like herself at all?” Hugo asked, joining him at the window.  
  
“I don’t know.” Varian said, laughing nervously.  
  
“If you don’t come doooown, I’m gonna come up to get yoooou!” Cassandra giggled.  
  
“What is _wrong_ with her?” The two boys said in unison, shaking their heads.  
  
“VARIAN!”  
  
Varian flinched as Rapunzel came into the area, looking furious. “How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from this tower?! Did you _want_ to leave it or not?!”  
  
“I was looking at Gothel’s books, I found something I think can help my dad!” Varian called down.  
  
“Varian, if you don’t get down here _right now, you are_ grounded, you—nnh!” Rapunzel suddenly fell forward and Donella walked into the area and picked her up over her shoulder.   
  
Cassandra gasped. “What did you do _that_ for?!”  
  
“Get your addled brain back to the lab.” Donella said firmly. “Hugo, why are you in a tower?”  
  
“Because I’m waiting for a handsome prince to save me.” Hugo ran his hands through his hair as he leaned against the window.  
  
“But, your handsome prince is in there _with_ you!” Cassandra giggled.  
  
Hugo sputtered. “It was a joke! Donella, we found—”  
  
“Why do you call your mom by her first name?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“Quiet, you. What did you find, Hugo?” Donella asked.  
  
“There’s an incantation that Gothel didn’t write down, but she said it’s at the Great Tree. And we found a map.” Hugo said as Varian held up both the book and map.  
  
“Good, that’s progress. Now, come on back to the castle and help me fix these fools.” She carried Rapunzel through the vines.  
  
“Hey, Varian, if you jump, I’ll catch you!” Cassandra opened her arms.  
  
“Uh, I’d rather not—”  
  
“Jump, jump, jump!” Cassandra encouraged.  
  
Varian looked at Hugo, who shrugged and climbed up. “Wait, what are you doing?”  
  
“I’m jumping.” Hugo said before he jumped down. Cassandra laughed and caught him before they both fell down laughing.  
  
“… _I’m_ using the trapdoor.” Varian left the window to go open it, putting the book and map inside his alchemy bag before he left the tower. He came out to find Donella had returned and was looking impatient. “Sorry…”  
  
“Oh, it’s not _you_ I’m upset at. I had them in your lab to try to figure out what was going on, but they escaped. Also, the white horse guard and the Princess’s lizard are acting suspicious, I suggest you have your raccoon interrogate them so we can resolve this nonsense before the banquet tonight.” Donella walked over and pulled Hugo to his feet with one hand, the other still holding Rapunzel on her shoulder. “Hugo, stop playing in the grass.”  
  
“Yes, ma’am.” Hugo said, brushing off his clothes.  
  
“Why do you call your mom that?” Cassandra asked as they started back.  
  
“She’s not my actual mom.” Hugo replied.  
  
Cassandra gasped. “ _I_ was adopted, _too_!”  
  
Donella sighed. “Keep an eye out for the cowardly ex-thief, would you?”  
  
“Cowardly?” Varian asked.  
  
“Though I have yet to determine the cause, their personalities seem to have reversed.” Donella explained. “Princess Rapunzel is cruel, Cassandra is…” she looked back at her, “not like herself, and the ex-thief is terrified of his own shadow.”  
  
“Wow.” Varian cringed.  
  
“With the party tonight, we cannot risk anyone else having this happen to them. It is up to us alchemists to find out what happened and keep it from happening again.” Donella looked at Varian. “Are you up to the task?”  
  
Varian nodded. “I’m ready.”  
  
“Good.” She looked forward again. “Because we have a little less than seven hours to solve this.”  
  
Varian would be lying if he said that he wasn’t excited to work with his mother’s old partner.  
  
“Yay, this is so exciting!” Cassandra cheered.  
  
“…We’re knocking her out when we get back.” Donella said.  
  
“Agreed.” Varian and Hugo nodded.  
  
\--  
  
Knockout bombs and goo bombs were used to keep the three altered ones in place and then Varian sent Ruddiger to sniff about for clues and, as Donella put it, interrogate Maximus and Pascal.  
  
While waiting for word from him, Donella took saliva samples from their mouths to examine for anything strange they might’ve eaten. “Hm…” She clicked her tongue. “I smell lemons…let’s see what putting it through some tests does.”   
  
Varian and Hugo worked with her to do the tests, adjusting the burner, filling the beakers, they followed her every command without hesitation. Varian heard some chittering and looked over to see Ruddiger had returned with a bottle. “What do we have _here_?” He walked over and knelt to pick it up. “Donella?” He brought it over to her.  
  
“Hm…” Donella took it and opened it, using a drop to study the contents while setting the closed bottle to the side. “Lemon smell…plus this giving a similar reaction…” She paused. “We need to go to the kitchen, _now_.”  
  
They hurried out together, Varian leading the way with Ruddiger right behind.  
  
They found Pascal and Maximus staring at an empty spot in the kitchen. Varian sighed and walked over to them. “Guys…did you…by any chance…” His eyes glowed slightly and they shrank back. “Use a potion on Rapunzel, Cassandra, and Eugene?”  
  
They nodded nervously. Ruddiger chittered with disapproval.  
  
“And did you put it in lemonade?” Varian pointed to the squeezed lemons on the floor. They nodded again.  
  
“And is the lemonade now taken out to be served to the King and Queen and whoever else is dining with them tonight?” Varian asked, his hair starting to glow.  
  
“Varian.” Donella placed a hand on his shoulder and he let out a heavy sigh, the glow fading. “We must intercept that drink, before they have any.”  
  
He nodded and they headed out to try to find the barrel.  
  
“How would the animals even get a potion like that?” Hugo asked as they went.  
  
“I don’t know,” Varian said, frowning. “Wait. Maybe _Xavier_ had it.”  
  
“Xavier?” Donella asked.  
  
“He’s the local legends and lore expert, and the town blacksmith.” Varian explained. “If anyone in this town would have something like that, it’s him.”  
  
“Let us hope he has a cure, as well. Varian, you go find this Xavier. We will find the lemonade.” Donella nodded.  
  
“Right. C’mon, Ruddiger.” Varian said, heading out of the castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Varian has some anger issues, good thing Donella is here to calm him down when Rapunzel is...different.


	24. 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Rapunzel and the others safely stowed away, it's up to Varian to find a cure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

“Xavier!” Varian called as he came into his shop. “Did you give Pascal and Maximus a potion?”  
  
“I did.” He said shamelessly. “The tonic brings out the opposite of your defining personal characteristics.”  
  
“Why?!” Varian frowned.  
  
“They were constantly bickering, and I wanted to help Maximus and Pascal teach them a lesson.” He said, setting down his work.  
  
“It completely changed Rapunzel! She’s _mean_!” Varian threw a hand out.  
  
“Well, the effect _should_ have subsided by now.” Xavier said with a frown.  
  
“What?” Varian frowned.  
  
“I told them ‘one drop each’.” Xavier explained.  
  
“…The bottle Ruddiger found was nearly empty.” Varian groaned. “Ugh, Pascal!”  
  
“There’s some bad news. If it was truly almost empty when the bottle was brought to you, then this will be in effect for _days_.”  
  
“Days?!” Varian shook his head. “No, that won’t be good! There’s a welcoming party tonight, a peace event! If Rapunzel goes to it as she is now…” He groaned. “That’s it. I’m going to have to make her sick. They’re all going to be too sick to be there, that’s the only way I can…oh, but if they didn’t get the lemonade…I’ll just have to knock out everyone at the party. Yeah, that’s it.” He turned to go. “Come on, Ruddiger! I need to make more knockout bombs, before the party begins!”  
  
\--  
  
“Varian, if you don’t let me out of this goo _right now_ , I am going to give you _such_ a sound—”  
  
“Will you shut up?!” Varian snapped. “I’m trying to work!”  
  
“Hey, don’t yell at her!” Eugene whimpered.  
  
“Shut _up_ , Eugene!” Rapunzel snapped. “Did you just tell me to _shut up_ , Varian?!”  
  
“Yeah, I did.” He turned to her. “Got a problem with that, sis?”  
  
“NNgh! Nngh!” She struggled with the goo. “You can’t keep me in here! What are you even doing?!”  
  
“Making that banquet a sleepover.” Varian went back to his work.  
  
“A sleepover?! With pillow fights?! That’s the best idea EVER!” Cassandra said cheerfully.  
  
“Stripes, hey!” Hugo ran into the lab. “So, uh, bad news, the barrel is covered and it’s with a bunch of others so we don’t know if we can stop people from drinking it. What’re you doing?”  
  
“I’m going to knock out everyone at that party.” Varian nodded to help. “Help me make more knockout bombs.”  
  
“Got it!” Hugo got to work.  
  
“When I get out of this goo…” Rapunzel growled.  
  
“Whoohoo, teamwork!” Cassandra cheered.  
  
“Rapunzel, come on, he’s just a kid. You can’t hit a kid.” Eugene said nervously.  
  
“Didn’t I say to shut up?!”  
  
“Shutting up now!”  
  
Varian groaned and tossed a knockout bomb over his shoulder at them all. Without moments, they were asleep.  
  
“Blissful silence.” Hugo said, and Varian nodded in agreement.  
  
\--  
  
Of course, knocking them out was a last resort. Varian decided to go with his two alchemist companions to talk to King Fredric about what had happened.   
  
“And so, because Pascal is a butterfingers, what would’ve lasted only a few hours is going to last _days_. Therefore, I propose it might be a good idea to postpone the banquet due to…” Varian looked thoughtful. “Sickness! There’s a sickness in the castle, we won’t want it spreading.”  
  
“Hm…” King Fredric looked unsure.  
  
“Look, it’s either we postpone it until they came to their senses or we find a cure by saying there’s a sickness, or I use a knockout bomb on _every single guest_.” Varian sighed. “Which would be less likely to seem as an aggressive move?”  
  
King Fredric looked at Queen Arianna and then he sighed. “Close the castle gates, announce the postponing of the banquet.”  
  
“Good. Let’s get rid of that lemonade.” Hugo said, heading off to do that with Donella.  
  
“Thank you.” Varian nodded.  
  
“Can you fix this?” King Fredric asked.  
  
“I’m going to Xavier’s.” Varian headed out.  
  
\--  
  
“There _is_ an elixir that will revert their personalities back to normal,” Xavier told Varian. “It requires the oil from the three-leaf echo plant, found only atop Mount Saison.”  
  
“Great, thanks. Let’s go, Ruddiger.” He pulled his hood over his head more and walked out to climb onto Maximus, Ruddiger climbing on in front of him. “Let’s go clean up your mess, Max.”  
  
Maximus looked like he felt terrible as they rode off together.   
  
Pascal had been left on guard duty – as in, he was guarding the goo-trapped Rapunzel, Eugene and Cassandra while they found a cure. Luckily, with Ruddiger’s keen senses, that wouldn’t take long.  
  
They reached Mount Saison after a two-hour ride and then got off of Maximus. “Okay, Ruddiger. Let’s find that echo plant!”  
  
Ruddiger chittered affirmatively and they got to work searching the green plants for a three-leaf one. Maximus watched them, feeling guilty for what he and Pascal had done. He’d never had Varian so _angry_ at him before…  
  
Ruddiger ran up to Varian and showed him the three-leaf plant he’d found. “Great job, Ruddiger!” Varian praised, hugging him. “Now, let’s get this back to Xavier so he can make that elixir! With any luck, we can have the banquet tonight, after all!” He got on Maximus, Ruddiger settling on his shoulders. “Hurry!”  
  
Maximus ran as fast as he could to get back home.  
  
\--  
  
“You know…you’re not very nice.” Hugo commented.  
  
“Oh, woooooow, you _just_ noticed that?” Rapunzel asked dryly.  
  
“Hugo, stop talking to the brain-addled princess.” Donella said as she looked over Varian’s knockout bombs with admiration.   
  
“I am not _‘brain-addled’_ , you creepy old woman!” Rapunzel snapped.  
  
“If I am old, so is your mother.” Donella said calmly.  
  
“Got it!” Varian ran in with a bottle. “I got the elixir made!”  
  
“Oh, good. Let’s give it to them before this princess learns to swear from Hugo.” Donella smirked.  
  
“Hey, I wasn’t gonna!” Hugo stepped back.  
  
“Do you want water or juice?” Varian asked.  
  
“As long as it’s not _lemonade_.” Rapunzel growled.  
  
“She _really_ doesn’t like lemonade…” Eugene said nervously.  
  
“I’ll have some juice!” Cassandra said cheerfully. “Actually, can I get wine in mine? Hah, that rhymed! Go me!”  
  
“…No. Juice it is.” Varian left for the kitchen.  
  
“Aw, fiddlesticks.” Cassandra pouted as he left.  
  
\--  
  
Three cups of juice and potion and they were, thankfully, feeling better.   
  
“Okay.” Varian sighed. “New rule: No messing with any potions or tonics or _whatever else_ unless you’re being supervised by an alchemist!”   
  
“Thank goodness _that’s_ over with.” King Fredric sighed. “Now to announce that the sickness has been cured, and it is safe to come to the castle.”  
  
“Don’t go running off now.” Cassandra nudged Varian. “You’re going to be expected to attend.”  
  
“I know.” Varian sighed, relieved to see she was back to normal.  
  
“Hey, uh, Cassandra? Rapunzel?” Eugene cleared his throat. “I’m sorry for acting like a…like…”  
  
“Like a world-class _dick_?” Hugo supplied.  
  
“Can you—please—stop?!” Eugene turned to him and Hugo grinned shamelessly.  
  
Eugene sighed. “I was acting very…self-centered, and it was wrong of me. And I apologize.”  
  
“And I apologize for destroying your possessions.” Cassandra said reluctantly.  
  
“And I apologize for not taking your advice into consideration and getting upset about you saying I need to stop being so peppy.” Rapunzel sighed. “And, uh, Varian, I’m sorry for being so mean to you earlier. And I’m sorry, Eugene, for telling you to shut up so often.”  
  
Varian shrugged. “It’s fine. Oh, I found a clue to something that might help my dad.”  
  
“Really?!” Rapunzel gasped. “Where?!”  
  
Varian pulled the book and map out of his bag. “There’s a Moon incantation that is supposedly very powerful. Gothel knew it, but refused to teach it to me. She wouldn’t even write it in this book because she feared I’d learn it and use it against her. But, I found a map to where she found it.” He opened the map. “The Great Tree.”  
  
“That’s far outside the Kingdom.” King Fredric’s brow furrowed.  
  
“And it’s our best chance to save him and destroy the rocks.” Varian insisted.  
  
“It’s too close to the Dark Kingdom.” King Fredric shook his head. “Perhaps your alchemist friends—”  
  
“It’s a _Moon incantation_!” Varian said, interrupting him. “It’s meant for _me_!”  
  
“Varian,” Cassandra took his hand, “you said that you were afraid to find out what the rest of the black rock incantation was because She might get you if you used it.”  
  
“I can’t live in fear of Her forever!” Varian cried. “It’s time that I start fighting back! If this spell makes Gothel cower in fear, then it has to be of use!”  
  
King Fredric and Queen Arianna exchanged looks. “Varian…” Queen Arianna sighed softly. “We will…discuss it, alright?”  
  
Varian nodded. “Okay.”  
  
“Now, we have a banquet to start preparing for.” Rapunzel reminded them. “So, let’s get to it!”  
  
“Hey, can I opt out of this?” Hugo asked.  
  
“Yeah, you don’t have to attend.” Varian assured them.  
  
“Good.” Hugo nodded and headed out.  
  
“Good luck, don’t mess with alchemy recklessly again.” Donella followed him out.  
  
Rapunzel looked at Pascal, who smiled sheepishly. “You heard her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is this mysterious spell that Gothel feared so much that she took it to her grave? Only one way to find out! To the Great Tree!


	25. 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's birthday is coming up and it's time to prepare for it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

“I have never been to the Great Tree.” Donella said as she and Varian looked over the map. “I have heard it was one of the places Zhan Tiri and Demanitus battled.”  
  
“Zhan Tiri…” Varian shivered.  
  
“You mean that creepy demon thing that Stripes and the others almost summoned?” Hugo asked.  
  
Varian’s cheeks went a bit pink as he thought of how Hugo had broken him from the trance. It was just a kiss on the nose, but it was still a kiss. Did it…mean anything? Was he reading into it?  
  
“Well, no matter what, Varian isn’t going _anywhere_ unless the King and Queen say it’s okay.” Cassandra said, walking over to them with drinks. “He’s as much their child now as Rapunzel is, at least until his father is freed.”  
  
“Which won’t _happen_ unless I go to learn that incantation.” Varian said firmly.  
  
“The black rocks are too dangerous for you.” Cassandra sighed. “Remember that tunnel? We _barely_ got out…”  
  
Varian nodded. “I remember.”  
  
“Rapunzel and Fitzherbert are talking to the King and Queen right now. If they can talk them into it, then you should be able to go.” She placed her hand on his shoulder. “But, until then, _please_ stay away from the rocks.”  
  
Varian sighed. “…Right.” He got up and walked over to stand on the balcony. “That’s getting increasingly harder to do by the minute.”  
  
Cassandra and Hugo walked out to join him, looking out at the landscape speckled with black rocks. Varian wrapped his arms around himself, his hair glowing for a moment. “I don’t know how long I can resist Her.”  
  
“Why don’t we go back and see what _else_ Gothel has?” Cassandra suggested. “With permission this time? We can bring a horse and cart, take her secret stuff…”  
  
“Are you, a Royal Guard, suggesting we _steal_?” Hugo gaped at her.  
  
“Well…I mean, she’s dead, right?” Cassandra walked off inside.  
  
Varian and Hugo watched her go and then Varian grinned before following her.  
  
\--  
  
“Yeeeeah, no.”  
  
Varian, Hugo and Cassandra stopped short and turned to see Rapunzel standing behind them with Donella.  
  
“Oh, come on! You ratted us _out_?!” Hugo cried in disbelief.  
  
“You were about to take Ulla’s son out to where it’s dangerous for him.” Donella shrugged.  
  
“Dangerous?” Varian frowned.  
  
“…You didn’t notice?” Rapunzel frowned. “Let’s go.” She walked across the bridge and they followed her.  
  
She led the way through the forest and to the tower, where they saw black rocks had sprouted up around it. “She’s found your old hiding place.” Rapunzel said grimly. “The black rocks have spread everywhere, Varian. And…they’re not _just_ after you.”  
  
“What?” Varian’s eyes widened as he walked over to her. “What do you mean?”  
  
“I’ve been getting visions, dreams, too. And when I go too close to a black rock that’s not yours?” Rapunzel walked over to one and her hair started to glow.  
  
“Aaaand now _her_ hair is glowing.” Hugo muttered.  
  
“Rapunzel…” Varian walked over to her. “Why didn’t you tell me?”  
  
“I’ve been trying to avoid them, to avoid them spreading out. For whatever reason, the Moonstone is hunting _both_ of us. She may not speak to me in my dreams, but I get visions.” She stepped back and her hair stopped glowing. “And so… _neither_ of us can safely go near the black rocks.”  
  
“Okay….so, we want that chest, right?” Hugo said, drawing their attention to him. “And anything else that might be of use?”  
  
“Yeah.” Varian nodded.  
  
“Great. Miss Guard, you and I will go up there with our non-magical hair and collect the stuff while the magical ones stay back here with Donella and Max and wait for us. Sound good?” Hugo looked at them all.  
  
“…Okay.” Varian nodded.  
  
“Great.” Hugo rubbed his hands together. “Let’s go, Miss Guard!” He ran for the door to lead inside.  
  
“It’s Cassandra!” Cassandra said as she followed him.  
  
Rapunzel walked back over to Varian and hugged him. “I’m sorry I hid it from you for so long. You were just…already so stressed by your _own_ problems, I didn’t want to burden you with _mine_.”  
  
“So…your hair glows, you get visions…anything else?” Varian asked.  
  
“If my hair touches the black rocks, the rocks release a blast like what hit us that fateful day when this all started.” Rapunzel said grimly.  
  
“…Yikes.” Varian cringed.  
  
Rapunzel nodded. “So…let’s just both avoid the black rocks, deal?”  
  
Varian nodded. “Deal.”  
  
“Alright, look out below!”  
  
Donella pulled the cart over and a chest dropped down into it, followed by a few boxes.  
  
“Do we want to steal any of these mirrors?” They heard Hugo ask.  
  
“They’d break on the way down.” Cassandra rejected the idea.  
  
“Ohh, jewelry! Hey, you try it on.”  
  
“Already got all the jewelry I need, thanks.”  
  
“Yeah? What’s it called, anyway? Don’t think I’ve seen that before.”  
  
“Cassandrium. Varian made it for me.”  
  
“He made you a _whole new element_?”  
  
“Jealous?”  
  
“Let’s just keep going. Should we explore the rest of the place for stuff to take?”  
  
“Stop wasting time, another rock just appeared.” Donella called up.  
  
“Oh shoot, forgot about those.” Hugo said before they heard some running, then something crashed and a groan of pain.  
  
“Who left all this HAIR in here to trip on?!” Hugo whined.  
  
Rapunzel giggled and Donella rolled her eyes.  
  
“He wasn’t so clumsy yesterday.” Varian said thoughtfully.  
  
Finally, the cart was full of stolen Gothel goods and they were escaping the tower. Varian stepped back, seeing more and more black rocks sprouting.  
  
“Let’s get out of here.” Rapunzel said nervously, leading Varian through the vines.  
  
Varian looked back at it. “…She’s getting more persistent. It was only a matter of time, most of my dreams start out in there lately.” He said bitterly, following Rapunzel back through the forest.  
  
Rapunzel wrapped her arms around him. “It’s going to be okay, Varian.”  
  
“Will it?” He asked.  
  
She sighed and held him closer as they walked. “We can only hope, at this point.”  
  
\--  
  
“ _Look_ at all this!” Rapunzel said as they unloaded Gothel’s crates and chest in her room. “I don’t even know what _this_ is!”  
  
“It’s alchemy.” Varian told her. “I didn’t realize she did it herself but, then again, she was training with one. She certainly didn’t just learn about legends from him, they were _studying_ the legends.”  
  
‘Now that I think of it,’ he thought, ‘She used some kind of knockout gas or paralyzer to kidnap me. Of course, it makes _sense_ that she knows alchemy. Knew. She’s gone now.’ He corrected himself.  
  
“Is this a star chart?” Hugo asked, looking it over.  
  
“And this…” Varian pulled out a scroll and unrolled it. “…Zhan Tiri. What did _Gothel_ have to do with Zhan Tiri?”  
  
Rapunzel shrugged.  
  
“Rapunzel?”  
  
Rapunzel looked over to see her father entering her bedroom. “Dad.”  
  
“What is all this?” He frowned, looking around.  
  
“Okay, so there was a tower full of stuff and they asked me to get it out of there.” Hugo spoke up.  
  
King Fredric’s eyes widened and he looked at them. “Rapunzel, Varian, you went to the—”  
  
“We didn’t!” Rapunzel assured him. “We had Hugo and Cassandra go instead of us to get what we wanted out of there!”  
  
The King still looked concerned but sighed. “Well…as long as you didn’t go near the black rocks…”  
  
‘Well…’ Varian thought. ‘Technically, she did. To show me what happens when she does.’ He looked at the scroll and sighed, rolling it up. ‘Even in death, you’re still giving me only more questions instead of answers. But, thanks to you, I know to go to the Great Tree to find the Moon incantation you didn’t want me to learn.’  
  
“Your Majesty…” He looked at him. “…Have you thought about my request?”  
  
“I have.” King Fredric nodded. “And…” He sighed. “Rapunzel’s nineteenth birthday is coming up. Can you wait until after that?”  
  
Varian smiled and nodded. “I can.”  
  
“Good.” King Fredric nodded. “Well, then. I’ll let you…get back to what you have here.”  
  
“Thank you.” Varian smiled softly.  
  
King Fredric pursed his lips, then nodded and left, closing the door behind him.  
  
\--  
  
Adira sighed softly as she stared up at Quirin. The guards were pitifully easy to take down, at least for her. She reached out a hand and placed it against the amber. “Oh, brother…” She sighed. “If only you had listened to me. Even if _we_ don’t tell her of her destiny…” She looked towards the open door, towards the black rocks steadily heading for Corona Island. “The Moonstone will.”  
  
\--  
  
“Wow, look at all these presents!” Rapunzel said excitedly.  
  
“The people _love_ you!” Eugene said cheerfully.  
  
“I don’t know if you can fit all this in your room.” Cassandra remarked as she walked with Varian.  
  
“Hey, Cass, remind me why you’re not my lady-in-waiting anymore?” Rapunzel looked at her. “Because…I don’t think you told me.”  
  
“Somehow, the King found out about me taking you two out.” Cassandra sighed and looked at Varian, who was poking at one of the boxes curiously. “My father planned to send me away, but Varian talked them into me being his personal bodyguard.”  
  
“Is _that_ why you’ve been hanging around the kid so much?” Eugene asked.  
  
“It’s not ‘hanging out’ and more—”  
  
“Whoa-ho-ho! The life of the rich and famous! Someone bought out a store for you, Princess!” Hugo commented, walking though the room and stopping next to Varian.  
  
“Are you just a permanent fixture now?” Eugene asked.  
  
“Well, as long as Donella is. There’s nothing we can do about the amber, so we’re pretty much just waiting to head out of the Kingdom with Stripes here at this point.” Hugo hooked his arm around Varian’s shoulders.  
  
“The King gave his approval?” Eugene asked.  
  
Varian nodded. “He asked me to wait until after Rapunzel’s birthday, but he allowed me to go to the Great Tree to find the incantation.”  
  
“That’s great!” Eugene said excitedly. “Whatever Gothel hid from you, it’s gotta work! And, once you get it, you can come back home to Corona safe and sound!”  
  
Varian nodded, smiling. “You guys try not to let the place burn down while I’m gone, okay?” He grinned. “No weird potions.”  
  
Rapunzel smiled and hugged him. “Promise.”  
  
Friedborg walked up to Rapunzel with a golden dress. Rapunzel looked startled by her appearance. “Oh, is it time for my fitting now?”  
  
“Have fun with that.” Varian grinned.  
  
“Oh, ha-ha, but you know your time is coming.” Rapunzel said as she walked off with Friedborg.  
  
“It’s not _my_ birthday.” Varian grinned. “ _I_ don’t have to wear anything different from my usual formals.”  
  
Rapunzel sighed.  
  
“Aw, I think she misses you.” Eugene looked at Cassandra.  
  
“I think, uh, Freaky-Face scares her.” Hugo commented.  
  
“Hah-haaaa…Don’t be rude.” Eugene said, elbowing Hugo in the chest.  
  
“Oof!”  
  
Cassandra rolled her eyes with a smirk.  
  
Varian continued looking over the boxes. “A lot of people love her…but, there’s a lot of angry people, too. They think her running out on the banquet dinner before her coronation was a bad omen that caused this, since that was the day it all started.”  
  
“I mean….technically, not _wrong_...” Cassandra said awkwardly.  
  
“They also think her keeping _me_ around is dangerous. They’re a lot less vocal than the loving voices, but they’re still there.” Varian sighed. “We have to stop the Moonstone. We have to get rid of the black rocks, at any cost.”  
  
“But, not if the cost is your _life_ , got it?” Cassandra took his hand. “I’m going with you.”  
  
Varian smiled. “Okay.”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gothel has so much stuff! Let's take it all.


	26. 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's birthday party commences, with an uninvited guest appearing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

Preparations for the party were well underway. Varian worked in his lab with Hugo while Cassandra watched.  
  
“With this, she’ll be able to see into the crater on the moon.” Varian said as he eagerly worked on the telescope.  
  
“And maybe see you getting your ass kicked.” Hugo laughed, nudging him.  
  
“Hey, where’s Donella?” Varian looked around.  
  
“I think the King wanted to talk to her.” Hugo shrugged. “If it’s important, she’ll tell us. She doesn’t normally hide important information.”  
  
Varian nodded. “Wrench.”  
  
Hugo handed it over and continued working on his part.  
  
Cassandra smiled. “One last gift before your big mission, huh?”  
  
“We’re just going as far as the Great Tree.” Varian assured her. “To get that incantation. Then we’ll come home.” He looked out the window with a grim expression. “I won’t let Her take me.”  
  
\--  
  
Rapunzel sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror. “Nineteen years old…” She sighed. “Hopefully Varian will be back before I turn twenty.”  
  
“Are you really okay with him going, though, Sunshine?” Eugene walked over and wrapped his arms around her. “You know what might happen to him out there.”  
  
“I know…but, if I try to stop him, I’ll be no better than Mother was.” She said grimly. “She knew the spell and never taught it to him. If _she_ taught him it, then he wouldn’t have to go looking for it now!”  
  
Eugene nodded. “Well…what if you went with?”  
  
“I can’t. Father would never allow it.” She shook her head. “It’s hurting him enough that Varian is going.”  
  
He kissed her gently. “Come on, let’s head on down. The party is soon, after all.”  
  
Rapunzel smiled and followed him out.  
  
\--  
  
As usual for Rapunzel’s birthday, there was dancing in the square and lanterns, though the mural had been replaced with a different one of Rapunzel, her parents, Eugene and Varian. Varian looked up at it fondly, thinking of when he’d first come here.  
  
“Hey, Stripes!” Hugo greeted, coming up next to him.  
  
“Hey, Glasses.” Varian said teasingly.  
  
“What’s this?” He looked up at it.  
  
“Just a mural. It used to be of Rapunzel as a baby but, since her return, it’s been replaced. I never really bothered to look at its replacement before.” He looked over as the dancing started and grinned. “Ever been to a Corona dance?”  
  
“I can’t say I ha—whoa!” Hugo yelped as Varian pushed him into the dance and then went in after him, the two of them joining the dance. Varian couldn’t help but notice that Hugo caught on to it pretty quickly, and Rapunzel and Eugene joined in at some point. Even Cassandra got pulled in, and they swapped partners back and forth with complete strangers as the song went on, having a good time. Rapunzel, of course, was the favorite partner and traded partners with everyone before the dance was done, and she and Varian laughed as they danced together before she swapped with whoever Eugene was dancing with.   
  
Cassandra met with Varian once and they shared a dance, smiling playfully at each other before moving on to other partners, clapping, dancing, leaping, swapping over and over in a dizzy way as the song picked up.   
  
He was going to miss this, he decided. He would definitely be back for the next one.  
  
To his surprise, Varian ended up with Hugo at the end, and they stared into each other’s eyes for a bit before Varian blushed and pulled back, Hugo doing the same.  
  
“That was…uhm…fun.” Hugo said as someone called them all in for the banquet.  
  
Varian nodded. “We should do that again sometime.”  
  
“Maybe I’ll teach you a dance from the Iron Kingdom.” Hugo suggested.  
  
“That’d be nice.” Varian nodded.  
  
Rapunzel giggled as they joined her. “Had fun, you two?”  
  
“Never been to a Corona party before. Or any kind of party, really.” Hugo admitted.  
  
“Too bad you missed the Day of Hearts.” Cassandra smirked.  
  
“Uh, I’m actually glad he _wasn’t_ there, that would’ve been embarrassing.” Varian went in, Cassandra following.  
  
“Why?” Hugo asked.  
  
“He…uh…got kidnapped by Cass’s secretly-a-terrorist boyfriend?” Rapunzel shrugged.  
  
“…Wow, this guy has no luck.” Hugo chuckled. “Guess I better get used to that!” He headed in after him.  
  
Eugene chuckled. “Aw, look at them. A thief and a prince. Just like us.”   
  
Rapunzel giggled. “Think he could reform?”  
  
“I don’t know.” Eugene shrugged. “Probably as much as Lance has.”  
  
“That’s…not an optimistic possibility.” Rapunzel said as they walked in hand-in-hand.  
  
Rapunzel went to the royal table where Varian was already sitting with her parents and everyone took their seats at the tables all set out.  
  
“Thank you, everyone, for attending my birthday banquet!” She said cheerfully. “It’s been an _incredible_ year, ever since the day I first left the tower, and I’ve had such amazing experiences and met so many wonderful people and made so many friends! You have all been such amazing people in my life, and I am grateful to all of you for being in it!”  
  
There was cheering all around.  
  
“And now that we’ve worked up an appetite with all the partying, let’s eat!” Rapunzel finished.  
  
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PRINCESS RAPUNZEL!” Everyone cheered as a cake was wheeled over and she blew out the candles.  
  
At that instant, as soon as the flames went out, black rocks shot out of the floor. Varian gasped as both their hair started glowing and then the door was smashed open by a large black rock as more and more black rocks appeared. People cowered in fear, surrounded by them, and then multiples of them started to grow together and they took the shape of a woman with long, flowing hair. The eyes opened and glowed blue and Rapunzel gasped, stepping closer, as the woman looked down at Varian in front of her.  
  
“Get away from him!” She yelled.  
  
“My Moon Child.”  
  
It spoke with Gothel’s voice, echoing in their heads. Varian clutched at his chest.  
  
“Come to me…”  
  
“Stop…” Varian looked around, seeing more and more black rocks appearing. “Fine! You win!” He cried. “I’ll go to the Dark Kingdom!” He stepped forward. “I’ll come to you.”  
  
The black-rock statue moved a hand forward and Rapunzel ran between them, throwing her arms around Varian as her hair struck the reaching hand. They heard the Moonstone scream as the rocks exploded and then there was silence.  
  
“…Varian…” Rapunzel looked at him, a pleading look in her eyes.  
  
“If I don’t go, then that will just happen again.” He looked at the black rocks that were sinking into the ground around them. “I have to go. One way or another, the Moonstone will be whole.”  
  
Rapunzel held him tighter. “Then, I’m going with you!”  
  
“Rapunzel!” King Fredric stood up.  
  
“No, dad.” She looked at him. “You saw what just happened, my hair just repelled her. If there is a chance that I can keep her from taking him, if there’s a chance I can defeat her, then I’m taking it!”  
  
“Good to hear.”  
  
They gasped and looked over at a woman stepped into the throne room. “Pardon my interruption. Happy birthday, by the way. I’ve come to you with answers.” She carried two scrolls in her hands.  
  
“Answers? Who are you?” Rapunzel asked, holding Varian protective.  
  
“It’s alright, I’m a friend.” She assured them. “Quirin and I were like family, brother and sister.”  
  
Rapunzel gasped. “Oh…I’m so sorry. Quirin—”  
  
“I have seen it. I spoke with him before, I told him that he was doing the wrong thing. Alchemy is not the solution.” She stopped in front of her. “This is.” She held out the two scrolls.  
  
Rapunzel and Varian looked at each other before they each took one, opening them. “What is this?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“These are two of four pieces of the Demanitus scroll. Contained within it, when put together, is the solution to defeating the Moonstone. An incantation for the Sundrop.” She said calmly.  
  
Rapunzel looked at it, then at her father. “I _have_ to go.”  
  
“Do you know where the other pieces are?” Varian asked.  
  
“I do.” She nodded. “One is in the Spire, and the other in a maze of Demanitus’ creation. It will be a long, difficult trip.”  
  
King Fredric sighed and grew resigned. “…I understand. Go, and be careful.”  
  
“We’ll set out tomorrow.” Rapunzel walked over and hugged him. “I’ll bring my trusted friends.” She looked over at Eugene and Cassandra with a smile, while Varian looked at Hugo and Donella.  
  
“Got room for one more?” Lance walked over to Eugene and smiled. “Can’t let my bro Eugene go off on a dangerous adventure without me.”  
  
“Of course!” Rapunzel smiled, then looked towards the woman. “Will you be joining us, uhm…?”  
  
“Adira, of the Dark Brotherhood. I’m from the Dark Kingdom.” She said calmly. “We tried to destroy the Moonstone before…” She looked at Varian. “Didn’t work out so well.”  
  
Varian shrugged. “Yeah…I’d say that.”  
  
“The Moonstone is waiting.” Rapunzel nodded. “But, she can wait a bit longer. Is everyone alright?”  
  
Everyone chorused their good health.  
  
“Good. Then, let’s have one last dinner together before I go!” She said with a smile.  
  
They all cheered and then the party continued.  
  
Varian looked up at Adira, who had gotten a piece of cake when it was passed out. ‘She probably has a lot of information about the Moonstone. The Moonstone said that my father hid a lot from us.’ He looked away from her and smiled at Rapunzel as she teasingly stole a piece of Eugene’s cake. ‘I hope we’ll be alright.’  
  
\--  
  
The next day, they packed up a travel caravan that was designed to split into two – if needed – and decided to have the girls and boys room separately. Adira said that she would be coming and going, but she would be watching them for any trouble.  
  
“Are you ready?” King Fredric walked up to them with Queen Arianna.  
  
“You made sure to pack clothes for both cold and warm weather, right?” Queen Arianna asked.  
  
“Yes, Aunt Arianna.” Varian assured her.  
  
She hugged him tightly.  
  
“We’ll keep your father’s home safe while you’re away.” King Fredric promised, then pulled Rapunzel into a tight hug.  
  
“We’ll bring them back safe, Your Majesty.” Eugene assured him.  
  
“Or die trying.” Donella added.  
  
“Can we, maybe, _not_ die?” Hugo looked at her. “That’d be great.”  
  
Lance laughed and clapped his hand on Hugo’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, we won’t die!”  
  
Rapunzel giggled a bit, looking at them, then at her parents. “We’ll be okay.”  
  
“Let’s get going, then!” Cassandra opened the caravan doors and then got in front to do the driving. “Varian, do you think you’re ready for this?”  
  
Varian let out a sigh, looking out at the horizon. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Moonstone is waiting.


	27. 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for the start of their journey to the Dark Kingdom!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

They found, upon reaching Old Corona, that the wall had been smashed open by black rocks. “She’s…uh…insistent.” Varian said awkwardly as they got out to look at it.  
  
“She’s made a path for us.” Rapunzel took Varian’s hand and walked forward, the black rocks under their feet glowing as their hair did the same. “Let’s follow it.”  
  
Varian nodded. “Before…before we go, though…”  
  
Rapunzel nodded. “Take your time.”  
  
Varian nodded and went to the guards at the door of his home. They nodded and let him in and he walked inside, going to where his father lay trapped. “I’ll come back to you.” He said, placing his hand against the amber. “I’ll find that spell and free you. I promise.” He sniffled and then let out a choked sob, falling to his knees. “I will save you.”  
  
“Varian?”  
  
He sniffled and looked up to see Donella approaching him. She knelt next to him and he let out a soft cry, throwing himself into her arms. She awkwardly patted his back and looked up at the picture of Quirin, Ulla and Varian that was in view from the lab. “We will free him.” She promised, then looked back at Varian. “That Moonstone won’t take you. I swear it.”  
  
Varian nodded, wiping at his eyes. “Yeah…”  
  
“On Ulla’s memory, I swear it.” Donella took his hands and squeezed them gently. “Are you ready?”  
  
He nodded, getting up. “Yeah.” He wiped at his eyes again and looked at Ruddiger, who had come to check on him. “I’m ready.” He held out his arms and Ruddiger jumped up into them before he climbed up on Varian’s shoulders and they headed back out to the caravan.  
  
“Let’s go see the world.” Rapunzel smiled and offered her hand to help him up into the caravan.   
  
He smiled and took it, hugging her once he was next to her. “Let’s go!”  
  
\--  
  
They set off, Adira splitting off after a while and promising to see them again soon. Maximus and Fidella pulled them along and Cassandra controlled the reins. Inside, Lance and Eugene were playing some kind of gambling game with Hugo while Donella read over one of the books that Varian had taken from Gothel’s collection and Varian and Rapunzel were drawing side-by-side.  
  
“He’s cheating. He’s gotta be cheating!” Lance protested.  
  
“Don’t whine just because you’re _dumb_.” Hugo stuck out his tongue.  
  
“Oh my gosh!” Rapunzel gasped and got up. “Cass! Stop the wagon!”  
  
“Huh? Wha—okay.” Cassandra called back, stopping the horses, but Rapunzel was already opening the door and running out. Varian put down his picture and ran after her. “Hey!” Cass called after them.  
  
“I’ll catch ‘em!” Eugene said as he ran after them.  
  
Rapunzel giggled and rolled down the hill, Varian following behind her. “Oh my gosh, look at all this!” She smiled. “It’s like leaving the tower all over again! There’s so much _world_!”  
  
“Yeah.” Varian nodded.  
  
Rapunzel got up and stretched, smiling as she started to sing.  
  
“ _I wanna break every rule and cross every line._ ”  
  
“Whoo hoo!” She cheered, spinning around, then pulled Varian up to his feet.  
  
“ _I wanna show all the stars how stars oughta shine._ ”   
  
She playfully ruffled his hair before she pulled him along with her.  
  
“ _I wanna do as I please and knock the world to its knees_

_And go wherever the breeze is going_!”  
  
She stopped and lifted Varian into the air, laughing as she went on.  
  
“ _Next stop: Anywhere!  
Got a whole wide world to see, nothing’s stopping me!_”  
  
Varian giggled and joined in as she set him down.  
  
“ _Next stop: Anywhere!  
'Cause there's so much waiting, I know it's waiting,_”  
  
He threw his hand out, his eyes shining with excitement.  
  


“ _I feel it waiting out there!  
Everywhere!_”  
  
“Rapunzel! Varian! Wait up!” Eugene panted as he ran down the hill to join them. “Phew! You guys are hard to keep up with sometimes, you know that?!”  
  
Rapunzel giggled and Varian shrugged unapologetically. “Come on, Eugene!” Rapunzel took his hands. “It’s our first trip outside of Corona, it’s like a whole new _chapter of our lives_ has just begun!”  
  
“Actually, I was thinking that, too.” Eugene admitted, moving a hand to his vest.  
  
“I mean, aren’t you excited to find out what all we’re going to see on the way to the Dark Kingdom?!” Rapunzel asked excitedly, looking at Varian.  
  
“Oh, yeah, real excited to follow a trail set by a creepy sentient rock that takes the shape of your years-long kidnapper.” Eugene said sarcastically.  
  
“Lighten up, Eugene.” Varian laughed a bit. “She seems to be easing up on us now that I agreed to go.”  
  
“Oh, good. Less nightmares, then?” Eugene asked.  
  
Varian nodded.  
  
“Eugene…” Rapunzel raised an eyebrow.  
  
Eugene laughed a bit. “Of course, I’m excited.” He took her hand. “I’m with _you_ , after all. What _else_ could I be?”  
  
“Ew, cheesy.” Varian teased.  
  
Eugene nudged him. “ _We're gonna toss out the maps and follow the sun.”_ He sang.  
  
“ _We're gonna place our own path and go on the run._ ” Rapunzel chimed in.  
  
“ _We're gonna get out and do what nobody's done!_ ” Eugene grinned.  
  
“ _There's so much out there to do, we've barely begun!_ ” Varian sang excitedly.  
  
“ _We're gonna take every dare,_ ” Eugene started.  
  
“ _And feel the wind in our hair,_ ” The other two added.  
  
“ _With no one telling us where we're going!_ ” They all sang in unison.  
  
Eugene lifted Varian into his arms and took at a run with Rapunzel behind him as they continued singing together.  
  
“ _Next stop: Anywhere!_

_If you're there, I'm gonna be_

_Where I wanna be!_

_Next stop: Anywhere!_

_And the world is calling,_

_It keeps on calling._

_Just think of all that we share,_

_Everywhere!_ ”  
  
Eugene laughed and pretended to trip before he safely rolled with Varian and they fell in the grass together, Rapunzel rolling to join them before they all laughed.  
  
“Rapunzel! Varian!” Cassandra called as she and Hugo ran down to join them. “Geez, I take my eyes off you for a second…” She stopped next to Varian and sighed. “Do me a favor and stop running off, okay? I promised the King I’d take care of you, and I don’t want to have to worry about having lost you only a week in.”  
  
“Has it been that long already?” Rapunzel asked as Eugene helped her up while Hugo offered Varian one.  
  
“Look, maybe it’s been a while for you, Rider, but it _is_ pretty dangerous out here. Especially for these two. One look at them and people will think: ’money’.” Hugo pointed out.  
  
“Ah, they’re fine.” Eugene assured them.  
  
“Let’s just get back to the caravan, okay?” Cassandra suggested.  
  
“Okay.” Varian nodded.  
  
“Next stop, Vardaros!” Lance declared as they got back to the Caravan.  
  
“City of fun and games!” Eugene laughed, running up to join him and stepping back inside.  
  
“Get your butts back into the caravan.” Cassandra said, shooing them in. Rapunzel giggled and went in with Varian and Hugo.  
  
“Yeah, we gotta go!” Lance laughed.  
  
“Remind me why we brought this guy?” Cassandra asked as she took the reins again.  
  
Eugene opened the window behind her. “Ah, come on, Cass, Vardaros is an amazing city. You're going to have _fun_ , which I'm guessing is a new _thing_ for you.” He smirked.  
  
Varian looked thoughtful, sitting down with his picture again. Pascal was looking unsure about their enthusiasm and Ruddiger chittered his agreement.  
  
“Come on, Pascal! It's our first big city outside of Corona. You heard him, Cass, this is gonna be fun!” Rapunzel said excitedly.  
  
“Fun, right.” Cassandra laughed a bit before she sang.  
  
“ _Next stop: Anywhere!  
Got a feeling things'll be happening suddenly!_”  
  
Rapunzel leaned out the window as she joined in.  
  
“ _Next stop: Anywhere!_

_Gonna chase my destiny, find the best in me!_ ”  
  
Eugene nudged her with a grin as he joined in.  
  
“ _Next stop, anywhere!_

_'Cause it's time we went to be where we're meant to be!_ ”  
  
“ _Next stop: Anywhere!_ ” Everyone but Donella sang, and she looked up from her book briefly before looking back at it.  
  
“ _And the world is waitin',_ ” Varian sang.  
  
“ _I feel it waitin',_ ” Hugo grinned.  
  
“ _It's all just waitin' out there!_ ” Lance threw his hand out.  
  
“ _Everywhere!_ ” Rapunzel and Cassandra sang together.  
  
“ _Everywhere!_ ” Eugene joined in with Varian, Lance and Hugo.  
  
“ _Everywhere!_ ” They all sang in unison.  
  
Donella closed her book. “Ah, enough with the _singing_ already.” She went into the other section and shut the door, prompting them to laugh.  
  
“Seriously, though, what’s Vardaros?” Hugo asked. “I don’t think I went there last time I came to Corona.”  
  
“It’s…oh, you just gotta see it.” Eugene grinned. “It’s amazing.”  
  
‘Vardaros…’ Varian frowned. ‘Why does that name sound so familiar?’  
  
“Hey, what’s eatin’ ya?” Hugo moved over and sat next to him, nudging him.  
  
“I feel like I’ve heard the name ‘Vardaros’ before.” Varian tilted his head back. “It’s like…it’s like it’s something _really important_ I heard once, but because it’s been so long it’s gotten buried under all the new information.”  
  
“Aww.” Rapunzel pulled him closer and rubbed his head. “Well, it’ll come to you. It always does.”  
  
\--  
  
They continued down the road, and Eugene got in front to direct Cassandra. Varian sighed and got out the scroll pieces, looking them over. “I have _no_ idea what language this is.” He admitted. “But, maybe Gothel’s books can tell us.”  
  
“Here, just let me have the reins.”  
  
“No, I got it.”  
  
Rapunzel looked up at Cassandra and Eugene bickering again. “Cassandra, let him have the reins! Come in and join us!”  
  
“Fine.”  
  
She came in from the skylight and sat next to them. “So, what do we know about this thing?”  
  
“It’s two of four pieces we need and, once together, it will give Rapunzel a way to destroy the Moonstone. Or at least defeat it.” Varian explained. “The other pieces are in a place called the Spire and a maze Demanitus built.” He paused. “That is, if Aunt Adira was right.”  
  
Donella opened the door and rejoined them. “Are you done with the singing? Because I think we need to discuss this book.”  
  
“What book?” Varian looked up at her as she knelt next to him.  
  
“It’s a Journal, but it’s very, very old. It takes place during Gothel’s alliance with Zhan Tiri.” Donella said, showing him the pages.  
  
“Yeesh, haven’t we had _enough_ of the creepy demon in the portal?” Hugo cringed.  
  
“Yeah, I didn’t like being forced to summon him, either.” Lance looked ill.  
  
“We got out of it, though. That’s what’s important.” Varian smiled and then looked at Hugo. “Thanks to Hugo’s quick thinking.”  
  
Hugo’s cheeks went pink and he laughed awkwardly. “I mean, I figured shocking you out of it might work. Didn’t want to hurt you, though, so…”  
  
Donella raised an eyebrow as Varian started blushing too.  
  
Rapunzel giggled. “You two are so cute.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT STOP: VARDAROS!  
> Huh, what's so familiar about Vardaros?


	28. 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian remembers where he heard the name "Vardaros", and it's not a good thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

They stopped to make camp for the night and all got out to relax in the grass. Cassandra decided to take the time to get back to training Varian on his sword skills and Lance decided to bond with Hugo over some story.  
  
Eugene smiled and took Rapunzel’s hand. “How you doing?”  
  
“I’m doing great.” Rapunzel smiled. “Really.”  
  
“Really?” Donella cut in. “Because, under the singing and the laughing, you haven’t been sleeping. Is it nightmares or anxiety?”  
  
Rapunzel sighed. “A little of both. How are you so calm?”  
  
“I had to keep Ulla from running wild.” Donella sighed. “She was a lot like you.”  
  
“I wish I could have met her. What happened to her?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
Donella pursed her lips grimly. “A mistake. The…The final trial. She was trapped inside, and then the totems vanished. We weren’t enough, and she…” She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. “She wanted to be the one to make the final move to get us inside. She was so confident, so proud of herself, so eager. _Too_ eager.” She lowered her arms. “She changed into…something… _demonic_. I couldn’t help her, so I took her goggles and gloves and Journal and fled. I imagine the Journal is still at Quirin’s place. As for the goggles and gloves?” She looked at Varian, who was wiping sweat off his brow from the training. “He wears them well. She would be so proud of him.”  
  
Rapunzel smiled. “Why don’t you go tell _him_ that?”  
  
Donella looked offended at the very suggestion and walked off.  
  
Eugene chuckled. “She’s a hard one to read.”  
  
Someone jumped into their camp and they all turned in alarm but relaxed when they realized it was just Adira returning.  
  
“You look like you could use a new sparring partner, Shorthair.” Adira remarked, walking over to her. “I think the Moon Child’s had enough.”  
  
“Aunt Adira, we _talked_ about this.” Varian said tensely.  
  
“…Right. You didn’t want me to call you that.” She rubbed his head. “Sorry, Varian.”  
  
Varian adjusted his goggles. “I’m gonna do some alchemy.” He walked off and went into the caravan to get his alchemy bag.  
  
“Are you going to be staying this time?” Lance asked hopefully.  
  
“I come and go.” She said, easily dodging Cassandra’s sword and kicking it away without unsheathing hers.  
  
“Ah, a woman after my own heart.” Lance said dreamily.  
  
“Can you _not_ get _gooey_ next to me?” Hugo got up and went inside to join Varian.  
  
Rapunzel giggled and then took Eugene’s hand, smiling at their little group. “It’s a bit of a misfit group, but I think we fit well.”  
  
“Me too.” Eugene nodded. “Hey, uh, Rapunzel…”  
  
“Raps!” Cassandra called. “I need backup!”  
  
“Coming!” Rapunzel ran over to join the battle.  
  
\--  
  
“Okay, guys,” Eugene said as he stood in front of the males of their caravan, “I’m going to try to give the proposal thing another try.”  
  
“Well, _gosh_ , maybe she’ll actually give you an _answer_ this time instead of freezing up in embarrassment and social anxiety.” Varian said sarcastically.  
  
“Oh man, did that happen?” Lance asked with a laugh.  
  
“I _admit_ , the _last_ attempt was—”  
  
“An utter _disaster_ that I _tried_ to prevent?” Varian raised an eyebrow.  
  
“ _Yes_ , Varian, we have _established_ that the last time was a mistake. But, _this_ time won’t be! Because I’ve got all of _you_ guys to help me out!” Eugene said eagerly.  
  
“Maybe you’ve forgotten, Rider, but I don’t really _do_ women.” Hugo said boredly. “I certainly couldn’t tell you if you’re about to fuck up your relationship.”  
  
“First, watch your language. Second, I wasn’t going to ask _you_ for advice, anyway.” Eugene looked at Varian. “Varian, what do _you_ think would be the most ideal way to propose to her?”  
  
“Hm…” Varian looked thoughtful. “Honestly, probably on the boat under the lanterns on her birthday, but you missed _that_ opportunity.” Varian said, earning a groan. “It had the nostalgia factor, plus—”  
  
“Okay, so…what would you suggest for an alternative we could do _out here_?” Eugene asked.  
  
“Frankly? I wouldn’t. Not while she’s stressed out like this.” Varian shook his head. “I mean, between the new environment, plus the Moonstone waiting for us—"  
  
Eugene sighed. “You think so? Because, I was kind of thinking of proposing to her in Vardaros…”  
  
Varian frowned, rubbing at his head.  
  
“What’s up?” Hugo asked.  
  
“I can’t figure it out. _Something_ about that name is ringing _warning bells_ in my head, and I can’t remember _why_.” Varian started to pace. “Vardaros…Vardaros…” He stopped, going pale. “’Let’s get you both in the caravan. It’s a long ride to Vardaros’.”  
  
“Huh?” The others all asked.  
  
“The Stabbingtons said that, when they were about to take us away, after setting Eugene up to get arrested for stealing the crown and making us think that he traded us.” Varian started trembling. “Why would they be taking us to Vardaros?”  
  
“Hey, hey.” Eugene went over and placed his hands on his shoulder, facing him. “It’s gonna be okay, nothing will happen to you. Maybe they were just going to meet with someone there. It’s gonna be okay.”  
  
Varian looked unsure but nodded. Eugene smiled and brushed his long bangs out of his eyes.  
  
The caravan pulled to a stop around them. “We’re here.” Cassandra called from the front.  
  
“It’s gonna be okay.” Eugene smiled and hugged Varian before they headed for the door together.  
  
They opened the door and Rapunzel smiled up at them. “We’re here!”  
  
“We heard.” Varian smiled, but it was a bit shaky.  
  
Rapunzel looked concerned and took his hand, leading him away a bit. “Is everything okay? Were they mean to you?”  
  
“What? No.” Varian shook his head. “I just…I remembered where I heard the name ‘Vardaros’. The Stabbingtons said it, when…” He shivered. “Just before we ran from them. Before Gothel ‘saved’ us. ‘It’s a long ride to Vardaros’.”  
  
“…Oh.” Rapunzel’s eyes widened. “They were going to _bring_ us here?”  
  
Varian nodded. “I think we should stay on our guards.”  
  
Ruddiger came out and nuzzled Varian’s leg. He smiled and picked him up. “We’ll let them have their distractions, but then we need to leave.” He decided.  
  
Rapunzel nodded. “Did you bring a cloak?” Varian nodded. “Good. Go cover up your hair, it stands out a _lot_ more than mine.”  
  
Varian set down Ruddiger and went inside the caravan again. He came out wearing Gothel’s old cloak, the hood pulled over his head to cover his hair entirely.  
  
“I didn’t know you packed _that_ one.” Rapunzel said with surprise.  
  
“May as well. Don’t worry, it’s clean. Cass made sure of that.” Varian assured her.  
  
“Raps, you wear yours, too.” Cassandra walked over with Rapunzel’s cloak. “You’re too recognizable, and if you guys are acting anxious about this place, I’m not taking chances.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded and took it, tying it on and pulling the hood up to cover her hair. “Okay. We’re ready.”  
  
“We do not _have_ to go to Vardaros if it has you so on-edge.” Donella said, walking over and placing a hand on Varian’s shoulder. “Why don’t we send scouts ahead to find out what kind of town it is, and the rest of us stay here?”  
  
“That…that’s a good idea.” Varian nodded. “Yeah. Sorry, I wasn’t thinking clearly. Too…too upset, I guess.”  
  
Donella shrugged. “You are much like your mother that way. That’s why I am here.”  
  
Varian smiled a bit. “Would you…tell me about her?”  
  
“Hugo.” Donella beckoned him over and Hugo walked to her side. “Go with Eugene and Lance to scout ahead, report back if anything strange happens or if it’s safe to enter.”  
  
Hugo nodded. “Yes, Donella.” He turned and walked over to the ex-thieves to explain the plan.  
  
Eugene walked over to them. “Rapunzel, you’re not coming?”  
  
“Varian is cautious about the name.” Rapunzel shook her head. “We’ll all go if it’s safe, but I don’t want to take any chances.”  
  
Eugene pursed his lips and nodded. “Alright. Lance, kid, let’s head out!”  
  
“Be safe.” Rapunzel pleaded with him.  
  
Eugene gently cupped her cheek and kissed her. “We’ll be back soon.”  
  
“We’ll be waiting.” Varian smiled.  
  
Eugene nodded and headed off to Vardaros with Lance and Hugo.  
  
“Well…I guess we just wait for word, now.” Rapunzel nodded.  
  
“What do we do in the meantime?” Varian asked.  
  
“Well…” Cassandra grinned. “You’ve got your pick of activities, Varian. Painting, sparring, or alchemy!”  
  
“Actually, I’m studying this dead language right now. But he can join me for it.” Donella said, waving the book a bit.  
  
“Why don’t we all paint?” Rapunzel suggested. “That way, you don’t have to pick _one_ person to hang out with!”  
  
Ruddiger nuzzled Varian’s leg and Rapunzel smiled. “Ruddiger and Pascal can paint, too!”  
  
“Uhm…let’s stick to drawing. Still a bit…turned off from the idea of painting.” Varian admitted, rubbing his arm awkwardly.  
  
“Oh! Oh…right, sorry.” Rapunzel nodded. “Drawing, then.”  
  
Donella sighed and closed the book. “Fine, let’s do some drawing.”  
  
\--  
  
Their little drawing session went well, Rapunzel thought. Cassandra drew Maximus and Fidella, Varian drew Rapunzel, Ruddiger and Pascal collaborated on a scribbly picture of their human companions and Donella drew a… “What is that?” Rapunzel asked, painting the landscape.  
  
“It’s a blueprint for a catapult.” Donella said casually.  
  
“Wow, you take drawing club _really_ seriously.” Rapunzel said in awe.  
  
“I…have never drawn anything simple.” Donella admitted. “I was raised around alchemists and inventors.”  
  
“Wow, where was _that_?” Cassandra asked.  
  
Donella tensed and cleared her throat. “A…nomadic tribe. We weren’t generally accepted in society.”  
  
“That’s too bad.” Varian frowned.  
  
“Ah, we managed.” She smiled wryly. “I mean, we’re here, aren’t we?”  
  
“Was my mother part of that tribe, too?” Varian asked.  
  
Donella nodded, going back to her drawing. “She was very skilled. I think…” She paused, remembering what Rapunzel had said, “she’d be very proud of how much you have learned.”  
  
Varian smiled so much he blushed a bit and Rapunzel bounced in her seat happily at Donella actually saying what she’d been hesitant to before.  
  
“Donella!”  
  
They looked over to see Hugo running back to the caravan, alone and holding a wounded arm. Donella got up and briskly walked to him, catching him. “What’s happened?”  
  
“Rider and Lance…they got taken to someone called The Baron. I barely got away when Rider—sorry, _Eugene_ —attacked the guy holding me.” Hugo groaned. “I need to stop doing these long-ass sprints.”  
  
“The Baron?” Varian paled. “You mean…who Lady Caine was going to _give_ me to that day?”  
  
“They were _what_?” Cassandra looked at him.  
  
“They took Eugene?!” Rapunzel cried in alarm. “We have to go save them!”  
  
Donella pursed her lips and looked at Cassandra, who nodded. “We’ll have to be careful about this. Let’s sneak into town and find out the situation.” She checked Hugo’s arm, rolling up the sleeve to see the wound better. “Can you still use it?”  
  
Hugo nodded. “Hey, where’s that badass sword lady?”  
  
“She’s not back yet.” Varian said faintly. “And we can’t wait, who knows what’ll happen to them.”  
  
“Let’s cover up and head into town, then.” Cassandra went to get more cloaks from inside the caravan. “It’ll be suspicious if only two of us don’t have a cloak on.”  
  
“Let me wrap up Hugo’s wound, then we will go.” Donella led him inside the caravan as Cassandra came back up.  
  
“Varian…do you think that the Stabbingtons were going to take us to the Baron, too?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“Sounds like this ‘Baron’ is going to be a problem.” Varian said, crossing his arms over his chest before he went in as well to get his alchemy bag.  
  
Rapunzel gathered up their pictures and took down the easels while everyone else got ready to go. She paused, looking thoughtfully at Donella’s, before she shrugged and took them in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh, Eugene's in some real trouble!


	29. 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eugene is in trouble, and Varian isn't going to stand for The Baron's antics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

Cloaked and the caravan hidden away, they went into town and blended in with the crowd. “Varian, use your keen ears to find out what people are saying.” Rapunzel said quietly.  
  
He nodded, focusing on people around them.  
  
“Have you seen Stallion?”  
  
“I saw Rider earlier, I know it!”  
  
“…Big news, not sure if I’m excited or not.”  
  
“On the stage…”  
  
Varian glanced to the side and directed their attentions to a stage set up in town, which is what the big crowd was gathering around. Someone stepped out from behind a curtain while someone else blew a trumpet.  
  
“Alright! Shut your faces and listen up, you scum!” The man that stepped out said with a sneer.  
  
Varian recognized him instantly and took Rapunzel’s hand, speaking quietly. “That’s the guy that Eugene traded himself for Red and Angry to.”  
  
Rapunzel gasped. “Right. He works for the Baron.” She whispered back as the man went on.  
  
“The Baron has something he’d like to say.” The man said as the curtain moved again, a large, imposing man stepping out.  
  
Varian just had to look at him to get bad vibes. And he wasn’t ignoring these ones, like he did with Miss Sugarby. Boy, had _that_ been a near-disaster…  
  
“People of Vardaros,” The Baron spoke, “I bring you cause for celebration.”  
  
“God knows this dreary town needs it.” Hugo muttered. Donella shushed him and he went silent.  
  
“A glint of joy into your otherwise meaningless and pitiful lives.” The Baron went on.  
  
Okay, Varian _really_ didn’t like this guy.  
  
“My people will be collecting gifts for the occasion from each of you.”  
  
Presumptuous. Or a threat. Either way, he was bad news.  
  
\--  
  
Eugene stood behind the curtain silently, listening to the man go on. He heard Lance wheeze in agony behind him and went to his side. “Hang in there, buddy. I’m gonna get you out of this.” He paced his hand on his chest and hung his head.  
  
“Wow!” A red-haired woman looked out at the crowd through the curtain. “You should see all the people out there!” She looked over at Eugene.  
  
He looked over at her and sighed, getting up. “Stalyan, come on. This is stupid.”  
  
“I know it is. I _told_ my dad that the spider wasn’t necessary but, you know bad guys.” She shrugged with a smile and walked past him. “They have _such_ a flair for drama.”  
  
Eugene clenched his teeth. “That’s _not_ what I meant!”  
  
She crossed her arms over her chest, grinning. “I _know_ what you meant.”  
  
“Stalyan, I _can’t_ _do this_.” He said firmly. “I’m _in love_ with _someone else._ ”  
  
“Yeah, I know.” She said cheerfully, mockingly. “We’re _all_ heard the story by now.” She uncrossed her arms and moved her hand to her hip, instead. “How the daring ne’er-do-well thief rescued the lost princess from her tower.” She rolled her eyes as she spoke, still smiling, like it was a big joke. “Let me ask you, do you _really_ think it’s fair to ask a girl who spent the first eighteen years of her life in prison to give up her freedom for a lifelong relationship with someone like _you_?” She smirked, her arms crossing over her chest again.  
  
Eugene looked hurt at the implication and glanced to the side, then focused on the Baron’s voice again.  
  
“I am pleased to announce—”  
  
\--  
  
“—the re-engagement of my daughter, Stalyan.” The Baron said as he gestured to the curtain, a young, red-haired woman stepping out with a smile.  
  
“Oh, so that’s ‘stallion’.” Varian muttered.  
  
“The Baron’s daughter?” Rapunzel whispered.  
  
“And her fiancé, Flynn Rider.” The Baron continued, as Eugene stepped out looking miserable.  
  
Varian’s eyes flashed and a black rock stabbed through the stage, right in front of Stalyan. She looked alarmed and stepped back and Eugene looked concerned before looking at the crowd.  
  
\--  
  
Of course, he knew it was Varian’s rock. The Moonstone never shot them out of the ground one at a time and that was clearly directed towards the source of Varian’s ire, the woman who dared to try to take Eugene from his sister.  
  
Oh, this would be messy…  
  
He could see cloaked figures in the back of the crowd, one of them moving forward before she was pulled back. Rapunzel. His beautiful Sunshine Princess. He never wanted to hurt her.  
  
The arrival of the black rock had crushed the happy mood and The Baron was ushering them off the stage when another shot out next to Stalyan. Eugene looked towards the crowd and slowly shook his head, his expression pleading.  
  
‘Calm down, kid.’ He thought. ‘Please. I don’t want you to get hurt…’  
  
He was led into the back and Lance was loaded up into a carriage and they got in.  
  
“Those things are _everywhere_.” The Baron muttered.  
  
“Real killjoys.” Stalyan nodded.  
  
\--  
  
Varian was moving before Rapunzel had even processed Eugene had left the stage. He moved to the side like a dark shadow in the crowd and moved behind the stage, where a carriage was about to take off. He pulled out goo bombs and heard footsteps behind him before Hugo stood next to him with his own bombs.  
  
“On three,” Varian whispered. “One,”  
  
The carriage finished loading up and started to move.  
  
“Two,” Hugo prepared to run.  
  
“Three.” They said in unison, then ran over and threw the goo bombs at the wheels, with Hugo adding an explosive bomb to rock the carriage and alarm the inhabitants.  
  
“What’s going on with this thing?” The man driving the carriage hissed. Hugo ran over and jumped onto the carriage behind the man, moving one hand over his mouth and the other hand moving a knife to his neck. The man froze, clearly not accustomed to being attacked by highway robbers.  
  
Varian grabbed the door of the carriage and pulled it open, throwing in a goo bomb as he did. The pink smoke accompanied by the sounds of panic inside were satisfying.  
  
“Hello, Baron.” He said, pulling down his hood and smirking at the man. “I think you have something of my sister’s.”  
  
“Varian…” Eugene cringed. “Varian, no. I _have_ to do this, or Lance—”  
  
“Quiet.” Varian said, holding up a hand.  
  
He looked over his shoulder as Rapunzel and the others joined them. Then he looked back in and saw Lance’s horrid state. “Here’s how it’s gonna be.” He looked at The Baron. “You let Eugene go and fix Lance, or I stab your precious daughter with a black rock.”  
  
Eugene paled. He knew that Varian couldn’t actually control the rocks, but he sure as hell could direct his anger.  
  
“You wouldn’t dare.” The Baron said coldly.  
  
“I mean, I guess you could _find out_. Red seems to be her _color_.” Varian said, toying with the door. “Not like you can do anything to _stop_ me, the goo is holding you all pretty good.”  
  
“Varian, what are you—” Rapunzel started, and Donella placed a hand on her shoulder to silence her.  
  
The Baron scowled. “If you _harm_ her—”  
  
“The _only_ one harming her will be _you_ , by not complying with my demands.” Varian said coolly, his eyes and streak glowing. “Release my sister’s boyfriend or lose your daughter forever.”  
  
The Baron looked around, as if wondering where his driver was. Varian looked over and saw the driver on the ground in goo, with Hugo waving from the front. He looked back at The Baron. “No help is coming. No wedding is happening. It’s Eugene and Lance for your daughter’s life.”  
  
The Baron looked at his daughter and sighed. “Fine…magic boy. You win.”  
  
Varian smirked with satisfaction and used the neutralizer to release them. “Try anything and she dies.”  
  
He stepped back to let the passengers out and they stepped out, Eugene helping Lance walk.  
  
“Eugene!” Rapunzel ran forward to hug him, then looked at Lance with concern. “What happened to you?”  
  
“Spider bite.” Eugene looked at the Baron, who was reaching for his hand.  
  
“Keep your hands apart or she dies.” Varian said coldly, a black rock sprouting up next to Stalyan. The Baron quickly moved his hand back.  
  
“He’s got the antidote.” Eugene told him.  
  
“Hand it over.” Varian said, nodding to Hugo to come over and take it.  
  
The Baron scowled as he handed it over. “If I see you again, boy, I will make you _suffer_ for this.”  
  
“Sure, _threaten_ the guy that has your daughter’s life in his hands. _Smart_ move.” Varian said dryly. Hugo snickered and went over to Lance.  
  
“Here, buddy.” Eugene said anxiously as he helped him take it.  
  
Cassandra looked at Varian with disbelief. She was going to be talking to him about this because, _what the hell_.  
  
“How is he?” Varian asked, not looking away from The Baron or his daughter.  
  
“Getting better.” Eugene said with relief.  
  
“Good.” Varian nodded, stepping backwards. “We’re going to leave now and, if you send anyone after us, I will kill her.”  
  
The Baron glared at him so coldly that, if looks could kill, Varian would be dead a million times over.  
  
Good thing the only looks that could kill are Varian’s, he smirked as a black rock shot up in front of Stalyan as he glanced at her.  
  
“Let’s go.” Donella placed her hand on his shoulder and they left, Varian glaring over his shoulder at The Baron.  
  
\--  
  
“Was that planned?” Eugene asked once they were safely out of town. “Was that—was that _planned_? Because no one, not _any_ of you stepped in. Well, besides Rapunzel.”  
  
“Uhm…no, not really.” Hugo shrugged. “But, MAN, was that fun! We make GREAT highway robbers!”  
  
Varian pursed his lips. “Uhm…yeah.” With his anger calmed down to nothing, the glow had faded and he was feeling a little nervous. ‘I pissed off someone dangerous again.’ He thought.  
  
“Honestly, we just let Varian do what he wanted because, well, he’d already started it by accidentally making a rock appear.” Donella shrugged.  
  
“Are you okay, though?” Rapunzel asked him. “You’re…you’re okay, right, Eugene?”  
  
“I will be, once we get far away from Vardaros.” Eugene nodded.  
  
“’Fun and games’, my ass.” Cassandra muttered.  
  
“I dunno, _I_ had fun!” Hugo grinned.  
  
“...Did we un-goo the driver?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“He’ll get out of it in about thirteen hours.” Varian waved it off. “Let’s get back on the road before The Baron decides to call my bluff.”  
  
“Agreed.” Lance said as they all got in, Cassandra once again taking the reins and getting the horses going.  
  
Varian got out through the skylight and climbed over to join her with her, showing her the map to the Great Tree. “According to this, we have to pass through the Forest of No Return.”  
  
“Friendly name.” Cassandra said sarcastically.  
  
Varian laughed a bit.  
  
Cassandra glanced at him. “…You okay?”  
  
“…Kind of panicking.” Varian admitted. “Also, I think the Moonstone approved of how I used the rocks…I can hear her laughing in my head.”  
  
“Laughing?” Cassandra frowned.  
  
“Yeah.” Varian frowned. “...Was it…wrong? What I did?”  
  
“No.” Cassandra smiled. “It wasn’t wrong.”  
  
He looked relieved. “That’s good.” He leaned against the front of the caravan. “That’s good.”  
  
Cassandra smiled and moved one of her hands from the reins to rub his head. He smiled and then looked back at the map. ‘The Forest of No Return…I’m excited to see what it’s like.’ He thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goodbye, Vardaros!


	30. 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the group gets into some trouble, Varian learns to control the black rocks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

“Before we go on, I want to write a letter to my father.” Rapunzel told them. “Let him know how far we’ve come. Cass, can I borrow Owl?”  
  
“Of course.” Cass smiled and looked at Owl.  
  
“If needed, I also have a hawk we can use to send messages. In case we have to send a message to two different locations at once.” Donella said casually.  
  
“A hawk?” Varian asked excitedly.  
  
Donella held out a hand and whistled. A hawk came down from the sky and landed on her gauntlet. Everyone but Hugo let out sounds of awe. Owl looked at the hawk curiously and Pascal hid in Rapunzel’s hair while Ruddiger clung to Varian’s neck.  
  
“Does your hawk have a name?” Rapunzel asked eagerly.  
  
“…Hawk.” Donella shifted her hand and the hawk took off into the air again. “Your pets needn’t worry, she only hunts the wild.”  
  
“You and Cassandra need to name your pets.” Eugene remarked with a grin.  
  
“They are not pets, they are partners.” Donella corrected him.  
  
“It’s her pet.” Hugo said, shrugging. Donella shot him an annoyed look and he grinned.  
  
“Varian, your mother had one, too. He’s currently being cared for at my home after your father sent him to contact me.” Donella informed him.  
  
“Oh hey, you’re here! Great!” Adira said, strolling over to them.  
  
“Adira!” Lance said with stars in his eyes. “You’re back!”  
  
“Of course. You’ll never get through this forest without me.” She said smugly.  
  
“And why not?” Cassandra raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Because it’s ever-changing and _I_ know the way through.” Adira tilted her head to the side slightly. “Because I’m awesome.”  
  
“Well, then let’s _go_ , already!” Rapunzel said eagerly, tying her letter to Owl’s leg. “To my father in Corona, okay?” She stroked his feathers fondly.  
  
“Mmm, not yet.” Adira looked at the sky. “It’s late, we should make camp and go when you’re better-rested and there’s light in the sky.”  
  
“She’s got a point.” Cassandra said before launching Owl off her glove to send off the letter. “We’ll make camp here.”  
  
“Good idea!” Rapunzel smiled. “Cass, Eugene, can you guys go get firewood?”  
  
“On it!” Eugene said as he walked off with Cassandra.  
  
“I’ll start getting ingredients out so we can have some stew!” Rapunzel went to their food trunk.  
  
“Oh, I’ll help!” Lance went over to Rapunzel.  
  
Varian shifted a bit, now alone with Donella and Adira. Both people he had had so many questions for but wasn’t sure how to ask them. Where would he even start? He decided to distract himself by joining Hugo over by the firepit he was setting up.  
  
“How you holding up, Stripes?” Hugo asked.  
  
“Huh?” Varian blinked.  
  
“We’ve been going a while. Homesick yet?” He asked, setting the stones around the firepit carefully, then building a platform to cook their stew on over the fire.  
  
Varian sighed. “A little. I miss the sounds of the castle staff.” He admitted, helping him.  
  
“Firewood!” Eugene said, walking over and kneeling to set it in. “Cass should be back soon with her own.”  
  
“Awesome, let’s get this fire roaring!” Hugo grinned and they moved out of the way a bit so Eugene could put the stray pieces of wood he found into the pit they made. Then they finished building the platform before Varian started the fire with flint and tinder.  
  
“Don’t see Cass yet…” He frowned, looking the direction she went.   
  
Eugene looked over as well, his brow furrowed. “She said she’d be right behind me.”  
  
“I’ve got a bad feeling.” Varian got up and headed into the woods.  
  
“Varian, wait!” Eugene followed him.  
  
They slipped through the trees and found Cassandra being cornered by several dangerous-looking guys. She had her sword out, but was looking uncertain. Varian cursed to himself about leaving behind his alchemy bag and pulled out his knife as Eugene took out his sword.  
  
“On three,” Eugene whispered. “One,”  
  
“Two,” Varian gripped his knife tightly.  
  
“Three.” They moved in unison, pincering the group and striking them at once. Cassandra took advantage of their distraction and joined the battle, the three of them fighting the men.  
  
It very quickly became clear, though, that they should’ve gone for backup – or at least alchemy. These guys were bigger, stronger, and pretty much it felt like fighting a dozen Stabbingtons. Worst of all, they were cornered up against a wall, with only the moonlight as their witness.  
  
Varian cried out in alarm as his knife was knocked from his hand and he was roughly grabbed. “Let me go! Let go!”  
  
“Varian!” Cassandra struggled with her own captor as Eugene tried to kick free of two of them, both their swords knocked out and kicked to the side.  
  
Varian cried out as he was tightly held, something wrapping around his wrists. “Help!” He cried. “Someone, help!”  
  
No one answered. They were too far away. Why had they been so stupid?! He looked up at the moon pleadingly. “Help me! Please!”  
  
“No one’s coming, kid.” The man holding him sneered.  
  
Just as Varian started to lose hope, his hair and eyes started to glow, moments before waves of black rocks shot out of the ground and knocked into the attackers, making them let go of their prizes. Then sharp rocks shot out and Eugene winced as the men were all impaled on the black rocks.  
  
“Uh…” Varian slowly got up, Eugene running over to free his bound hands. “Thank you?”  
  
More black rocks came out of the ground and the Moonstone took Gothel’s shape again, reaching out a hand to cup Varian’s cheek lovingly. He sighed and tilted his head into her hand, an acceptance of the affection. “Be careful, my little Moon Child.” She said, before moving her hand away and sinking back into the ground, taking the rest of the rocks with her.  
  
“…How did you know that would work?” Cassandra asked.   
  
“Well…she saved my life _before_.” Varian sighed, his hair and eyes losing their glow. “I…figured she’d help here.”  
  
“Great…” Eugene looked a bit nervous. “Let’s get back to the others. Why does she keep taking the shape of Gothel?”  
  
“She was the closest thing I had to a mother growing up?” Varian shrugged.  
  
Eugene cringed. “Right.”  
  
“Eugene! Varian! Cass!” Rapunzel called to them as they returned to camp. “What happened?!” She ran over and checked them all over, fussing over a bruise on Varian’s cheek.  
  
“We got jumped by around a dozen Stabbingtons.” Varian shuddered. “We…we lost.”  
  
“How’d you get away?” Adira asked as Rapunzel led them back into the fire’s glow.  
  
“…The Moonstone saved us.” He looked up at the moon. “Saved…saved me. She’s pretty intent on keeping me safe until I reach her, apparently.”  
  
Rapunzel frowned. “Well…at least you’re okay.” She hugged him, then pulled away to hug Eugene and Cass before kissing Eugene.  
  
Adira clicked her tongue. “You all need more training. Clearly, you aren’t awesome enough to handle the trouble ahead. If you can’t handle those guys, there’s no way you can beat Hector.”  
  
“Who’s Hector?” Varian asked.  
  
Adira’s gaze shifted to something almost wistful before it disappeared. “He’s part of the Brotherhood, guards the Great Tree. Honestly, I was told to keep you out of the Dark Kingdom, but I abandoned _that_ idea before you were born.” She shrugged with a smile. “Anyways, we’re going to have to fight him.”  
  
There was a stunned silence in the camp and then Cassandra cleared her throat. “I’ll…I’ll take that extra training.”  
  
“Me too.” Eugene nodded.  
  
Varian nodded. “Yeah…me three.”  
  
She grinned. “I’ll train you all at once.” She looked over at the others. “How about you?”  
  
“I’m an alchemist, I don’t fight hand-to-hand.” Hugo shrugged.  
  
“You’ll learn anyway, you won’t _always_ have alchemy.” Adira assured him. “How about you?” She looked at Donella.  
  
“I am already quite capable.” Donella said, not looking up from her book.  
  
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Adira smirked.  
  
“I will!” Rapunzel said eagerly.  
  
“Anything to be close to _you_.” Lance said dreamily.  
  
“She’s gonna kick your ass, you know.” Hugo commented.  
  
“That’s the best part.” Lance declared.  
  
“Let’s eat before the stew gets cold.” Donella said, closing her book and going to serve herself some.  
  
\--  
  
That night, Varian found himself back in Gothel’s tower again. When the Moonstone approached him, he didn’t resist this time. He’d already promised to come to her. There was no conflict, no argument here. She moved towards him in the guise of Gothel and lovingly stroked his hair and cheek before kneeling next to his chair.  
  
“You worry me, little one.” She said, her glowing eyes squinting with amusement. “You think you can take on the world, but you still refuse to learn how to use your greatest strength.”  
  
He let out a sigh, his breath blowing against his long bangs. “The incantation.”  
  
“Yes. One of many.” She said serenely. “But, to learn, you must _listen_. Do not shut me out. Do not cover your ears. To learn the full incantation, you need only listen.”  
  
Varian pursed his lips. “But…to use the black rocks as a weapon…”  
  
“My dear child, you have _already_ used them as a weapon.” She waved her hand and Varian looked up as images appeared on the wall in front of him, one by one.  
  
The black rock by the trapdoor.  
The Stabbington’s caravan.  
His attempt to stop the rocks when they first started chasing.  
Lady Caine’s attack.  
The science expo.  
Andrew’s balloon.  
His (more successful) attempt to stop the rocks in the tunnel.  
Zhan Tiri’s summoning.  
And, finally, his most recent summoning of the black rocks, in Vardaros.  
  
“I’m so _proud_ of you for that one.” She cooed in his ear. “Even without the incantation, you have learned to direct your anger and use the black rocks as a _very_ effective weapon. But, don’t you think you would have a better chance…” She held out another hand and black rocks rose around them. “If you could really _control_ them?”  
  
Varian slowly stood up. “But…what will happen to…to _me_? Won’t it…let you control me, if I use your power?”  
  
To his surprise, she let out a laugh. It was a laugh he’d heard so many times before, condescending and frustrating all in one. “Oh, my _dear_ child, where did you get _that_ impression? All the incantation does is allow you to control the black rocks.”  
  
He turned to her. “…You’re not…tricking me?”  
  
“Of course not. Frankly, your little arrangement with the Sundrop to go to the Dark Kingdom and slay me is entertaining at most. I have told you before, Sliver.” She walked over and stroked his cheek before tilting his head up to look at her. “One way or the other, whether I take you or you take me, the Moonstone will be whole.” She smiled. “And you cannot hope to win if you are afraid of unlocking your true potential.”  
  
He pursed his lips and stepped back, away from her black-rock hand. “…You’re right.”  
  
“Of course, I am.” She leaned down, her hands on her knees. “Now…are you ready to actually _listen_?”  
  
He nodded. “I am.”  
  
“Good. Repeat after me.” She smiled and started to sing.   
  
“ _Crescent high above._ ”  
  
He repeated after her, singing as well.  
  
“ _Crescent high above._ ” _  
  
_“ _Evolving as you go,_ ”  
  
“ _Evolving as you go,_ ”  
  
" _Raise what lies beneath_ ,”  
  
“ _Raise what lies beneath_ , _”  
  
“And let the darkness grow.” _They sang in unison, and his eyes and hair started to glow as she placed her hand on his shoulders. _  
  
“Bend it to my will._ ”  
  
 _“Bend it to my will._ ”  
  
“ _Consume the sunlight’s glow._ ”  
  
“ _Consume the sunlight’s glow._ ”  
  
“ _Rise into the sky,_ ”  
  
“Rise into the sky, _”  
  
“And let the darkness grow.  
Let darkness grow._”  
  
They finished in unison, their hands moving together as black rocks rose around them. She smiled down at him, but he just stared ahead of him as the black rocks rose higher and higher. She kissed his head fondly and then released his shoulders, moving away from him as he focused on lowering the rocks next.  
  
It was…strange. What had been so, so frustrating for months, years, came to him so easily now. It was like he’d finally accepted a key to a door that had forever been closed, a key he could have accepted months ago. But, this was _her_ realm, in his dream. He couldn’t know that the power was really his, that the door had really been opened, until he woke up.  
  
So, he looked over at her and smiled. “I’m going to wake up now.”  
  
She gave him a wave as he went back to the chair he started in and closed his eyes, as if going to sleep in one world to wake in another.  
  
\--  
  
He opened his eyes and found himself staring up at the inside of the caravan. Hugo was sleeping above him, his arm hanging down, and Lance and Eugene were asleep on the other bunk. He carefully got out of bed and crept past his roommates, going to open the door. Ruddiger roused and quietly followed him through a window as he closed the door, heading outside.  
  
He paused when he heard voices speaking and walked over to listen in. It sounded like...Adira and Donella?  
  
“I see…so, you as well.” Adira said calmly.  
  
“And the worst part is, I can’t even tell them. While in Corona, I learned about what happened to my prince, and if they find out…I can’t tell them. Trust is fragile enough.” Donella said grimly, looking at something in her hands Varian couldn’t see.  
  
“Wouldn’t it be better to hear it from you than for them to find out by chance?” Adira asked.  
  
“I’ve been so detached from my roots for so many years. Besides, how would they even react?” She held up the object, a golden necklace. Varian frowned, wondering why it seemed so familiar. “Especially after such a bad experience?”  
  
Adira shrugged. “It’s up to you, in the end. Now, you should be getting rest. We leave for the Forest of No Return tomorrow.”  
  
“I know.” She put the necklace back on and tucked it under her shirt. “You should rest too.”  
  
“I will.” Adira assured her.  
  
Donella went to go to the girls’ side and Adira looked at the fire. Varian decided he was done and crept off to where they’d been attacked earlier that night.  
  
Some of the men were gone, dragged off by wild animals. The rest were still there, and he scrunched his nose before he held out a hand and started to sing.  
  
“ _Crescent high above,  
Evolving as you go,  
Raise what lies beneath  
And let the darkness grow.  
  
Bend it to my will.  
Consume the sunlight’s glow.  
Rise into the sky,  
And let the darkness grow.  
Let darkness grow._”  
  
His hair and eyes glowed as he sang and black rocks started to rise out of the ground at his command. He smiled and focused on lowering them, then raising them again and turning them different directions.  
  
“So, you have learned to control them.”  
  
He gasped and a black rock stabbed into a tree. Adira walked over, looking at it. “Well, mostly.” She smirked.  
  
“I was…surprised.” He said, making the rock leave the tree and sink back into the ground with the others. “I didn’t notice you saw me leave.”  
  
“I did. Saw you eavesdropping, too.” Adira said smugly.  
  
Varian turned to her. “Well…yes, I did. She taught me the incantation, said that if I wanted to have any chance of beating her that I needed to unlock my powers.” He started to go back.  
  
“She seems to be taking your impending betrayal well.” Adira said as she joined him on his trek back.  
  
“It’s a game to her.” He sighed. “Either way, if I win or she wins, the Moonstone will be whole.”  
  
“Hm.” Adira hummed tunelessly.  
  
“Besides…I’ve already been using the rocks as a weapon. So, she taught me how to actually control them. And…” He paused to hold out his hand over a black rock, lowering it into the ground. “I can reduce her damage. Maybe…if I’d listened earlier, I could’ve…dad wouldn’t be…”  
  
“She was only so willing because you agreed to go to her.” Adira shook her head.   
  
“Is that it? Or is it that I just didn’t _want_ to listen? She sang the incantation to me _every night_ and I blocked it out, trying to figure it out myself without listening! Ugh, I’m so STUPID! It’s all my fault that dad’s in amber, it’s all my fault that the black rocks are all over the place! My fault, all of it! I could’ve stopped everything, if I’d only LISTENED!” His hair and eyes glowed and a wave of black rocks fired forward and slammed into a row of trees that finally fell after the sixth one.  
  
She stared at the destruction and slowly turned her head to him. “…You know what you need? Meditation.”  
  
He looked up at her, the glow fading with his anger. “…What?”  
  
“Meditation. It will help you control your anger.” Adira explained. “I’ll add it your training. Now, let’s go back to the caravan.”  
  
Varian nodded and then they headed back that way.  
  
“Varian!” Rapunzel ran over to him when they reached it “I heard such a frightful sound and you weren’t in bed!”  
  
“Moon boy here learned how to control the rocks and was playing.” Adira said casually.  
  
“You what? When?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“…In my dream, when I was asleep earlier.” Varian admitted. “She…she taught me the incantation.”  
  
Rapunzel pursed her lips but pulled him close to hug him. “Well…at least you can control the rocks now. That’s good. But, now, it’s time for bed.”  
  
He nodded. “Can I sleep in your bed tonight?”  
  
She blinked. “Uhm…sure, let me just make sure Donella and Cass are okay with it.”  
  
He smiled. “Okay.”  
  
She headed in and he turned to Adira. “…What were you talking to Donella about?”  
  
“If she wanted you to know, she’d tell you herself.” Adira said pleasantly.  
  
“…Right.” Varian nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Onward! To The Forest of No Return!


	31. 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group finally reaches The Forest of No Return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

Adira woke them all up the next morning and, once they ate breakfast, put them through some rigorous training. It would be an understatement to say that, by the end of it, Varian was ready to knock her off her feet with a wave of black rocks. And he did just that, which she laughed about as she narrowly dodged it.  
  
“Save your energy, Little Moon.” She said teasingly. “I don’t know if you have much left. Wow, look at you all. We might have to wait another day before going into the for—” She gasped and cut herself off as she dodged a hawk dive-bombing her before she had to dodge Donella’s knife. “Phew! Looks like _one_ of you can still stand, then! But, I think we’re done for today.”  
  
“Alright, then.” Donella nodded, putting her knife away.  
  
“Whoa…” Cassandra breathed. “Did you just team up with your hawk to attack her?”  
  
Hawk landed on Donella’s gauntlet and she smirked. “Hawk is my partner, not my pet. Don’t you do this with your Owl?”  
  
“No, he’s my eyes in the sky, but usually not my partner in battle.” Cassandra pushed herself to her feet and walked over to her. “How do you bond with a _hawk_ so well?”  
  
“There’s a _lot_ of trust involved.” Donella smiled. “Here, put out your arm.”  
  
Cassandra put out her arm and gasped as the hawk tapped her glove with its talon before climbing on. “Hey, does he like me?”  
  
“She.” Donella corrected with a fond smile. “And it seems she does.”  
  
Hugo groaned and pushed himself to his feet. “Donella, are you looking to adopt me a sister?”  
  
“Got a dad already, thanks.” Cassandra laughed.  
  
Rapunzel helped Varian up, followed by Eugene and Lance.  
  
“I feel so _alive_.” Lance swooned.  
  
“Come on, you masochist.” Eugene laughed.  
  
“Masochist? Only for _Adira_.” Lance said adoringly.  
  
“Varian, let’s get started on your meditation.” Adira suggested.  
  
“Ohhh, meditation!” Rapunzel said eagerly. “Can we join you for it?”  
  
“If you would like. Anyone can join us for it.” Adira sat down cross-legged and Varian sighed before sitting next to her in the same pose.   
  
The others all followed suit, Hawk deciding to fly up and sit on top of the caravan instead of participating. Ruddiger and Pascal kept close to Varian and Rapunzel, eyeing the vicious bird of prey warily.  
  
“Ugh…maybe…next time, we do the meditation _before_ the ass-kicking.” Hugo said with a wince.  
  
“Agreed.” Eugene and Varian said in unison.  
  
Donella chuckled.  
  
\--  
  
The following day, they finally got back in the caravan and headed on, Eugene taking the reins this time while Adira rode on top of the caravan and everyone else rode inside, the windows all open.  
  
“Eh, anybody who’s spent time in the woods knows that Slayer Wolves have extremely sensitive hearing.” Eugene said as he held the reins with Rapunzel and Eugene in front with him, referring to an event earlier that day where they were attacked by Slayer Wolves and he’d put coins in an empty water flask to create an extremely noisy rattle.  
  
“See that teamwork?” Lance commented with a grin, leaning out the window closest to him. “I distract them by pretending to cry, while you chase ‘em off!” He chuckled nervously, then said “Thank you!” in a low voice.  
  
Eugene smiled. “I just did what had to be done.”  
  
“Maybe if you, Rapunzel and Lance hadn’t wandered off, you wouldn’t have _had_ to.” Donella remarked as she read Gothel’s books with Varian and Hugo.  
  
“Hey, we can’t always count on staying together as a big group.” Eugene said with a shrug. “Now, come on, Rapunzel. I’ll show you how to extract drinking water from a tree trunk!”  
  
He gasped and stopped the caravan. “…Okay, so the black rocks have led us to a swamp. But, on the bright side…” He paused, then continued. “I was hoping someone would finish that sentence. For me, this place is terrible.”  
  
Cassandra laughed a bit. “So, ‘king of the wild’, any suggestions on how we cross this thing?”  
  
Varian got up and walked out of the caravan. “I’ll take care of it.” He stopped in front of the horse and turned away from them as he held out a hand, his hair and eyes starting to glow. Black rocks started to rise out of the ground together and stretched across to the other side.  
  
“Well, I guess that’s _one_ way to do it.” Eugene said awkwardly.  
  
A tentacle suddenly lashed out at Varian and he stepped back out of reach, a black rock shooting out to strike at the creature in the swamp. “Okay…I’m going to make some…adjustments.” He decided, creating walls around the bridge he just built.  
  
“Good work, Varian.” Adira hopped down off the caravan. “I always say, ’if you can’t go through something, go over it’.” She walked over to him. “The walls are a nice touch.”  
  
“Don’t want that _thing_ grabbing us.” Varian gestured to where the creature nearly grabbed him.  
  
“Well, let’s get back in the caravan and continue on!” She said cheerfully, leading him back inside with a hand on his back.  
  
“Had fun?” Donella asked as Varian sat down to get back to his reading.  
  
“Okay, so what _is_ this swamp, anyway?” Eugene asked as Adira hopped back onto the caravan.  
  
“Oh, this is the start of the Forest of No Return.” She said casually. “Few have made it to the other side of the forest and, luckily, you happen to have one of them with you.”  
  
“Well, good, because Gothel’s not here and she didn’t include a map of the forest in her books.” Varian said, adding to his notes.  
  
“How’s that going, anyway?” Lance asked, looking back at them.  
  
“It has both Old Coronan and Old Saporian roots, with its own flair. We’re working on a translation key, based on what she wrote in here.” Donella said before going back to it.  
  
“The first time I crossed, I had nothing but a dagger and a handful of nuts.” Adira went on smugly.  
  
“Wasn’t my father with you?” Varian asked.  
  
“No, he took the _boring_ way to Corona.” Adira laughed. “Also, I had bronchitis the whole time.”  
  
Lance gasped in awe. “You’re _amazing_.”  
  
“I know.” Adira hopped down off the caravan again and walked in front of it instead. “So, come on! Let’s cross this bridge and go on through!”  
  
Eugene rolled his eyes. “It’s a _forest_ , Adira, how hard could it be?”  
  
“It’s the _Forest of No Return_.” She said, dramatically gesturing as she turned to him.  
  
“Yes, we know the name by now, thanks.” Eugene sighed. “I just think you’re—”  
  
They heard some loud screeching and everyone cringed.  
  
“Eugene,” Varian sighed heavily. “Just let her lead the way. I don’t want to be in this creepy place longer than I have to be.”  
  
“…Fine.” Eugene grumbled. “Lead the way, Adira.”  
  
She smiled smugly and they started across the bridge. As they passed over the swamp, they heard something bang against the rocks, but it couldn’t reach them through the unbreakable walls.  
  
“This doesn’t change anything, Eugene.” Rapunzel scooted closer to him. “You are still the to-go guy out here.”  
  
Eugene smiled and cupped her cheek lovingly.  
  
“Come on!” Adira said cheerfully. “Oh, and if anyone wants to walk with me, it’d be _great_ for your training.”  
  
Lance got out and ran to walk with her, humming happily.  
  
“I think the rest of us will just stay in here, thanks.” Hugo said, turning another page of the book he was reading.  
  
Varian heard a sound behind them and looked up at the trees behind them closing, blocking their way back. “…Right.” He muttered. “Always changing.”  
  
\--  
  
The further in they got, the darker it got. Or maybe it was just the passage of time that caused that. Either way, they lit their lanterns and pressed on until they saw a tree with a skeleton next to it, the skeleton holding a knife and the words “FOREST OF NO RETURN” carved into the tree.  
  
“Wow, that’s some dedication.” Hugo remarked. “I mean, he carved that as he was dying.”  
  
“Let’s just continue on.” Rapunzel said anxiously.  
  
“It’s okay, everyone, there’s nothing to be afraid of.” Eugene assured them. “This swamp is just like any other swamp.” He paused. “Does anyone else hear a buzzing noise? I hear a buzzing noise.”  
  
Pascal shot out his tongue and latched onto something, and then a giant, flying rose out of the bushes, Pascal’s tongue still attached to it.  
  
“Oh my God, what is that?!” Eugene cried.  
  
Varian ran to the window and held out a hand, a black rock shooting up from the ground to stab the creature. Ruddiger scampered out and caught Pascal before taking him back up to Rapunzel.  
  
“Thanks, you two.” Rapunzel help Pascal close.  
  
“Okay, so that was an abnormally big bug. Big deal, right? Let’s move on.” Eugene said, then looked forward in disbelief as the trees started moving around in front of them. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, what’s going on?”  
  
“It’s been doing that this whole time.” Varian informed him. “Ergo, _not_ a ‘normal swamp’. Then again, I don’t know, _is_ that normal for swamps? I spent six years living in a tower.”  
  
“Er…no, it’s not normal.” Eugene confirmed.  
  
“The Forest of No Return is in perpetual motion and changes without warning.” Adira said, sitting on top of the caravan. “Luckily, I procured this special map many years ago.” She pulled out a pink object. “It’s the key to traversing the woods…safely.” She offered it to him.  
  
“Okay, one, I don’t think I need that. Two, even if I needed it, how the heck do I _use_ that?” Eugene laughed a bit. “No thanks, I’ve got all the directions I need right here.” He tapped his head.  
  
“Eugene, if the Moonstone has to save me again because you’re being a dumbass, _you_ get to tell her why.” Varian said, going back to his books.  
  
Eugene cringed. “Onward, Max!”  
  
They heard unnerving sounds around them and mist started to rise up from the ground. Maximus looked at him nervously.  
  
“Come on, Max, we gotta get through this thing.” Eugene urged him.  
  
Maximus looked forward with Fidella and they walked on, pulling the caravan behind them.  
  
“Would it have _killed_ her to have bigger handwriting?” Hugo commented as he squinted at some of Gothel’s writings. “ _Would_ it have?”  
  
Varian laughed. “She was too busy buying more mirrors to think about _that_.”  
  
“Yeah, she had a lot.” Hugo remembered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can they make it through the woods?


	32. 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Forest of No Return is a dangerous and confusing place for the travelers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

“Although I was surrounded by stunning scenery, I knew not to mistake this beauty for anything but what it _truly_ was… _pure evil._ ” Adira said as they rode along, Varian, Hugo and Lance now sitting on top of the caravan with her.  
“Whoa…” Lance breathed.  
  
“How come?” Varian asked.  
  
“That beauty concealed the Drexis. The Drexis that inhabit the Forest of No Return are the deadliest creatures I have ever encountered. Their wingspan stretches over 20 feet, and each of their fangs are the size of a chubby toddler!” She gestured dramatically and Varian giggled. “You laugh, but this is _real_ , my nephew.”  
  
“Wow, that is some _powerful_ imagery there, Adira.” Eugene said dryly. “Fictional, but powerful. And I was with you, but once you got to the spider-bats, you _totally snapped_ my suspension of disbelief.”  
  
“They’re called the Drexis, weren’t you listening?” Lance asked anxiously.  
  
“Who _cares_ what they’re called?” Eugene asked with exasperation. “Anyone? Show of hands?” He paused. “Would you put your hand down, Lance.”  
  
“Actually, it might be a good idea to keep track of what beasts we encounter.” Donella said from inside. “A beastiary would come in great handy for the return trip.”  
  
“A beasty—what?” Eugene asked.  
  
“A beastiary.” Donella came to the window. “It’s a book that contains pictures and information on beasts, such as the Drexis. I’ve already got the information on the Drexis down, though I will need to see one to draw it.”  
  
“I thought you couldn’t draw anything but blueprints?” Varian asked teasingly.  
  
“I said I don’t draw _simple_ things.” Donella rolled her eyes.  
  
Varian and Hugo laughed.  
  
“Who else here knew what a beastiary was?” Eugene asked.  
  
“I did.” Adira said cheerfully.  
  
“Why am I not surprised.” Eugene said dryly. “Oh, look, we’re almost out of this fo—oh, no, no, no.” He groaned as they came up to the tree with the words carved into it again. “That _cannot_ be the same sign.”  
  
“Looks the same to me.” Varian remarked as everyone else agreed.  
  
“We just went in a big circle.” Rapunzel realized.  
  
“No…wait, it’s not—we should be out of this forest.”  
  
“Of No—” Adira started.  
  
“I _know_ what it’s called!” Eugene snapped.  
  
“ _Return_.” She finished in a stage-whisper.  
  
Eugene frowned. “Did you have to?”  
  
They all got out of the caravan to stretch their legs.  
  
“Okay, so I haven’t technically gotten us anywhere.” Eugene admitted awkwardly. “And I know what you’re thinking, but it is _not_ my fault!”  
  
Cassandra walked over to him. “Not your fault?! You led us in a _circle_ , ‘really good navigator’!”  
  
“Hey, be fair. The trees _are_ moving around.” Varian told her, and Cassandra pursed her lips.  
  
“And in Eugene’s defense, it was a _really good circle!_ ” Rapunzel added.  
  
Cassandra groaned. “We’re _never_ getting out of here.”  
  
“We will if we use the _map_ , Shorthair.” Adira said from the boulder she’d decided to sit on.  
  
“Will the map stop the trees from moving?” Hugo asked.  
  
“Maybe they only move if you’re going the wrong way.” Varian shrugged.  
  
“Or it just has a way around them.” Donella reasoned.  
  
“Why do you call me that?” Cassandra asked Adira. “You did it before, too.”  
  
“Because I find referring to people by defining characteristic is more time-efficient than learning their names.” Adira said casually. “Hence, ‘Shorthair’,” she then pointed to Lance. “Earrings,” she pointed to Hugo, “Glasses”, then to Donella, “Scar”, then Rapunzel. “Sundrop.”  
  
“So, _that’s_ why you keep calling me ‘Moon child’.” Varian said thoughtfully.  
  
“Yes.” She nodded.  
  
“What do you call my father?” Varian asked curiously.  
  
“’Brother’. I suppose you would be ‘nephew’.” She shrugged.  
  
“Better than ‘Moon child’.” Varian sighed.  
  
Cassandra chuckled. “So, what’s Eugene’s?”  
  
“Fish skin.” Adira said casually.  
  
Cassandra started laughing, but tried to hide it behind her hand. “Wait a minute, what? Fish skin?” Eugene asked, confused. “Fish. Skin? Where did that even come from?!”  
  
She smirked a bit.  
  
“I think that the daily application of 16 assorted lotions, creams and exfoliants would beg to differ!” Eugene said firmly.  
  
“Is _that_ why his bag is so big?” Varian remarked.  
  
Hugo laughed. “No _wonder_ he wakes up so early!” He said with mock-amazement.  
  
“Eugene, hmm, maybe you should stop talking about your morning routine and just take Adira’s map?” Rapunzel suggested, walking over to stand next to him.  
  
“Fine!” Eugene sighed. “I will take the precious map.”  
  
“Wise choice, Fish Skin.” She got down and offered it to him. “You must follow its instructions to the letter.”  
  
“Uh, again, I _don’t know how to read this_.” Eugene said, frowning.  
  
“Without its guidance, finding the exit to the forest would be like finding fur on a rattlesnake.” She went on.  
  
Rapunzel gasped. “Aww, that would be kind of adorable.”  
  
Eugene took the map and sighed. “Maps are generally pictures of the ground, and that’s _sometimes_ useful. You know what _else_ is useful? Common sense. Like asking about how this thing,” He messed with it a bit. “Is a _map_!”  
  
He walked over to another path they hadn’t taken before. “Common sense _also_ says that we need to take this _other_ road here!”  
  
“He’s right, it’s a pretty simple process of elimination.” Hugo remarked.  
  
“The trees are moving, Hugo.” Varian reminded him. “I don’t think common sense works here.”  
  
“There could be a perfectly scientific explanation.” Hugo shrugged.  
  
“Alright, everyone back in the caravan and—where is the caravan?” Eugene said in disbelief.  
  
They all looked around to find it was missing. Donella sighed with exasperation.  
  
“It’s okay, I’m sure it’ll turn up once we leave this place. Maybe it didn’t like us taking the caravan through.” Rapunzel said awkwardly.  
  
“Looks like we’re going on foot, then.” Cassandra said as Eugene ran over to where the Caravan was.  
  
“Careful!” Adira stopped him. “That’s a landpit. They’re scattered all over the forest.” She turned to them all. “The horses and the camper are likely in another section of the woods now.”  
  
“Oh, there, see? Scientific explanation.” Hugo said, nodding to Varian.  
  
“What’s _scientific_ about a random pit appearing and taking the caravan to another part of the forest?!” Varian looked at him in disbelief.  
  
“Shush. I’m trying to rationalize it.” Hugo said, looking a bit freaked out.  
  
“Well, speaking of ‘ration’, if we don’t get out of this forest and find the caravan, we’re going to starve to death in three to five days.” Cassandra walked over to Eugene. “So, what do we do?”  
  
“We go down that other path.” Eugene said, heading off. “Let’s go, everyone!”  
  
\--  
  
Eugene grunted as he struggled to climb up a cliff. Adira pulled out a bow and arrow, but Varian held out a hand and stairs made of black rocks formed and went all the way to the top. “Oh, come on, kid. Save some cool for the rest of us!” He said, climbing back down.  
  
Varian shrugged. “I wanna get out of here.”  
  
“Hm.” Adira put her bow and arrow away.  
  
They all started up the stairs, which Varian made railings on the side of as he went up first.  
  
\--  
  
“Rain. Of course there’s rain. And thunder.” Hugo complained as they walked on. “Stupid magical forest, taking the caravan. How long have we been walking?”  
  
“If you don’t shut up, I’m knocking you out and carrying you.” Cassandra threatened.  
  
“Don’t hit my kid. Hugo, be quiet.” Donella told him.  
  
“Yes, ma’am.” Hugo complied.  
  
“Everyone, over here!” Eugene said, having found a big flower to hide under for shelter.  
  
Adira stopped and cut down a large plant to prepare a shelter. Varian used black rocks to make a stone shelter big enough for everyone and she looked at him, surprised but also impressed.  
  
“Seriously, you guys are making me look bad.” Eugene said as they all went into the stone one for shelter.  
  
“Sorry.” Varian said with a sheepish grin, while Donella pulled out a lantern from her satchel and lit it to create a small fire for them to huddle around for warmth.  
  
“Donella, don’t you have that—“ Hugo started quietly.  
  
“Hush, Hugo.” She said just as quietly.  
  
\--  
  
Eugene ran to free Rapunzel, Lance and Cassandra after they got caught in a constricting vine plant. “Rapunzel!”  
  
“The secret to escaping is to _relax_.” Adira said, while Donella made note of the plant in her book. “Reacting only tightens their grip.”  
  
Eugene slashed at the plant. “What is this thing _made_ of!? It’s not cutting!”  
  
Lance and Cassandra relaxed and then were let down. Donella noted “Unbreakable” in her book.  
  
“Why. Won’t. These. Vines. Cut?!” Eugene said, fighting to free Rapunzel.  
  
“Uh, how much longer, Eugene?” Rapunzel asked awkwardly.  
  
“Don’t think of it as long, think of it as—”  
  
“EUGENE! GIVE UP, IT’S UNBREAKABLE!” Varian snapped. “Come on, Rapunzel, enough humoring him!”  
  
She sighed and relaxed as well. “Sorry, Eugene…”  
  
Eugene groaned. “Stupid Adira and her relaxing vines…”  
  
\--  
  
“Just when I thought it wasn’t possible to like you _more_ , you go and make this _delectable_ blackberry salad!” Lance said eagerly as they all sat around a campfire.  
  
“Mmm! Mmm!” Rapunzel hummed happily as she ate. “And the roasted trout is _fantastic_!”  
  
“It makes sense that you’d know what’s safe and isn’t safe to eat, having been here before.” Donella remarked as she fed some trout to Hawk.  
  
“And you even made a spiced fly medley for Pascal!” Rapunzel said cheerfully, as Pascal happily ate.  
  
Ruddiger happily chomped down on blackberry salad and trout, sitting in Varian’s lap. “Who know you could make such good food on the road like this?” Varian said, stroking his fur fondly.  
  
“Yeah, well, the cobbler’s salty.” Eugene said bitterly.  
  
“No, but _you_ are.” Hugo nudged him with a grin.  
  
Eugene got up. “I’m gonna go extract some drinking water from that tree over there.”  
  
“That’s damaging to the tree, Fish Skin.” Adira told him.  
  
“Don’t anger the moving tree.” Donella got up and walked over to grab his hand before he could start, pulling him over to the river Adira fished the trout out of. “Come on.” She reached into her satchel and pulled out something. “We can collect pure drinking water with this filter. Give me your flask.”  
  
“With this what?” Eugene handed over the flask.  
  
“A filter, it…” She paused. “I made it. It’s an invention of mine.” She knelt and started to collect the water into the flask. “It blocks anything bad in the water from getting into the flask.”  
  
“That’s…really useful.” Eugene said with awe.  
  
“Mmhm.” She focused on her task.  
  
“I was going to suggest he try cutting a notch into one of those water-bearing vines, but that’s an interesting way to get clean water.” Adira said, looking over at them.  
  
“Donella has a _lot_ of cool stuff.” Hugo said, chomping down on the fish.  
  
“What kind of cheese is this?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“Gouda.” Adira nodded. “I never leave home without it.”  
  
Ruddiger got off of Varian’s lap and started to explore, pawing at a mushroom. He let out a hiss when it moved and tried to latch down on him and ran back to Varian.  
  
“What is that?!” Varian asked, getting up and holding his pet close.  
  
“That would be a pup shroom.” Adira informed him.  
  
It bounced around for a bit and Varian shot out a black rock to scare it off, the creature bouncing off barking in alarm.  
  
Donella looked at Adira. “’Pup shroom’?”  
  
“Mmhm.” Adira said, sipping at her drink.  
  
Donella finished filling the flask and then pulled the filter out before closing the flask and handing it to Eugene. “There you go. Go get any others. We’ll need water for the trip out of here.”  
  
“You know what? On the way back, we’re taking the ‘boring’ way that Quirin took.” Eugene decided.  
  
“We could also take a balloon.” Donella said thoughtfully. “Would be faster.”  
  
Eugene blinked. “A balloon? What, a hot-air one?”  
  
She paused, mid-thought. “…Nevermind. Go get the other flasks.”  
  
Eugene nodded and walked off to get them.  
  
\--  
  
Eugene grunted as he climbed up a tree for a better view. Hawk flew up and landed a bit above to him, looking around. “Hey, Hawk.” He greeted. “So, how far are we to the exit, do you reckon?” He climbed up higher and looked out. “Ah, look! We’re close to the end already! We made it!”  
  
“Don’t celebrate yet.” Donella said as Hawk flew back down onto her gauntlet and Eugene started down.  
  
“Whooa, ah!” Eugene landed on the ground on his feet. “Okay, perfect landing! Ten out of ten! Now, I don’t want to brag—”  
  
“So, don’t.” Hugo said, cutting him off.  
  
“Come on, kid, let me have this.” Eugene frowned.  
  
“We’re not out yet.” Varian looked up at the sky. “But…this is the first time we’ve seen the sky since we entered this thing, so…there’s some good news.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded.  
  
“Well, yes, but _I_ got us here, so—" Eugene gasped and stopped short. “What is it with this place and giving us impossible obstacles?” He asked as they stopped at a steaming, bubbling pit of what _might_ be water. “Unbreakable vines? Landpits? Swamps with tentacle creatures? And now _this_?”  
  
“Those are the Silver Geysers. They’re lava-hot and emit toxic gases.” Adira told them.  
  
“Can we go around it at all?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“Why go around it?” Varian walked forward and held out a hand, focusing. Black rocks rose out of the ground again and formed an arching bridge that extended over the pit, with walls to protect from the steam. “After all, ‘if you can’t go through something’…”  
  
“’Go over it’!” Adira said cheerfully. “You remembered!”  
  
“Hah, this kid remembered _one line_ said by criminals he met a _year_ ago. There is _no_ limit to his memory.” Eugene rubbed Varian’s head.  
  
They crossed the bridge and Lance let out a groan. “Oh no. Oh, come on.”  
  
“I cannot believe this.” Hugo agreed.  
  
“How are we back _here_?! We’ve been walking for _days_!” Varian gestured to the “Forest of No Return” sign in front of them.  
  
Hugo walked over and stole the skeleton’s knife. “If Rider doesn’t get us out of this place _soon_ , I’m using this on him.”  
  
“No, you’re not.” Donella took it from him and put it back in the skeleton’s hand.  
  
"I don't...I don't get it." Eugene said numbly.  
  
“It appears that the path we came in on is no longer in existence.” Donella said thoughtfully, looking over at it.  
  
“You led us in a really big circle, you idiot! We’re never going to escape and it’s all your fault, Eugene!” Cassandra snapped at Eugene. “You’re not the king of the wild, you’re a disaster!”  
  
“Cass!” Rapunzel looked at her.  
  
“You should’ve just given the map back to Adira!” Lance said irritably. “You can’t read it!”  
  
“I _said_ I couldn’t! I haven’t been using it!” Eugene reminded them. “We all saw the exit; it doesn’t make any sense!”  
  
Casandra scowled. “Your stupid ego is going to get us all _killed_ one of—"  
  
“I think he gets it.” Donella walked over to her. “We’re not going to get out of here with infighting, Cassandra. We need to turn to the one that has been through here before.”  
  
Varian sighed. “Adira?” He looked at her.  
  
Eugene sighed glumly and walked away a bit, then yelped as he sank into a landpit.  
  
“Eugene!” Rapunzel cried in alarm.  
  
“…Great.” Varian sighed. “Let’s hope…we can find him on the way out. Where’s the map?”  
  
“He had it.” Adira shrugged.  
  
“…We’re gonna die.” Hugo said flatly.  
  
“Well, then we better start walking.” She said cheerfully. “Luckily, I don’t actually need the map.”  
  
“You couldn’t have said that _hours_ ago?” Cassandra said as they followed her.  
  
“I didn’t want to injure his pride more than it already was.” She said as they headed on.  
  
\--  
  
“Eugene!” Rapunzel called as they walked. “Eugene!”  
  
Hawk swooped down and landed on Donella’s gauntlet. “Did you see him?” She asked. Hawk let out a little croon and she sighed. “Guess not.”  
  
“I hope he’s okay…” Varian said grimly.  
  
He gasped as his streak started to glow. “Okay…the fact it wasn’t doing that earlier but is doing it _now_ is…a bad sign.”  
  
“A bad sign?” Lance asked nervously.  
  
“Yeah…” Varian nodded. “Something…really dangerous and/or magical is nearby.”  
  
“Oh!” Rapunzel gasped. “Look at these gorgeous flowers!”  
  
“Those aren’t flowers.” Adira said, pulling Rapunzel back from one. “Remember what I told you before?”  
  
“Uh, which one?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“’Don’t mistake the beauty for what it truly is’.” Adira pulled her back further. “’Pure evil’.”  
  
“You mean—” Varian gasped as the “flowers” started to shake.  
  
Donella pulled out a knife and the rest of them got ready to fight. “Drexis.”  
  
“Correct.” Adira said, pulling out her sword.  
  
All around them, the “flowers” opened up and screeched at them.  
  
“Spider!” Lance whimpered, looking close to fainting, “Why does it always have to be _spiders_?!”  
  
“Lance!” Varian summoned a black rock to stab the one close to him.  
  
“Ahh!” Lance ran away from it, then whimpered as another came at him. “Help!”  
  
Varian summoned another black rock as Cassandra, Donella and Adira started to slash at the creatures.  
  
“Rapunzel! I’ll build a shelter; you get Hugo and Lance inside with you and hide!” He told them.  
  
Rapunzel nodded and Varian built the shelter of black rocks before they hid inside, Varian mostly closing it up to keep them safe.  
  
“Rapunzel!” Eugene ran into the area, pulling out his sword with the hand he wasn’t holding the map with. “I figured out the map! What are these things?!”  
  
“Drexis!” Adira said as she slashed at one.  
  
“Where’s Rapunzel?!” Eugene asked, slashing at one creeping up on Varian.  
  
“Hiding with Lance and Hugo! They’re not fighters!” He said as he summoned another black rock to stab an incoming Drexis.  
  
“Neither are you!” Eugene reminded him.  
  
“These black rocks don’t run out like alchemy balls!” Varian said as he summoned another.  
  
“Fair point, fair point. Hey, think you can make a sword like Adira has?” Eugene asked as he slashed at another Drexis.  
  
“I don’t know! Not gonna try right now!” Varian said as he impaled another Drexis.  
  
“Ah!” Donella hissed as her shirt was snagged by a Drexis’ fang when it tried to bite her and she moved back away from it. Adira slashed at the creature and Donella held her shirt closed with one hand, the other slashing at more Drexis.  
  
“This isn’t looking good.” Adira said as they found themselves surrounded.  
  
They heard neighing and then Maximus and Fidella came running in and started to attack the creatures. “There’s still too many of them!” Eugene looked at Adira. “What do we do?!”  
  
“The map!” Adira held out her hand and Eugene handed it to her before they continued fighting. Adira did something with it, then looked to the side. “We have to jump into that landpit!”  
  
“Varian, drop the shelter!” Eugene told him. “I trust the map!”  
  
Varian dropped it and then they all went running for the landpit together. They dove in and came out safely in another location, Eugene stabbing at a rock wall to drop a tree and cover their exit.  
  
\--  
  
“Ugh…” Hugo groaned as they all pulled themselves out. “That wasn’t pleasant.”  
  
“Everyone okay?” Rapunzel asked as she turned to them all.  
  
“Hey, look! The caravan!” Eugene said with relief.  
  
Donella tucked something gold back into her shirt and held it closed. “Let’s go in, then. I’m tired of this forest.”  
  
“Well, good news. We’re out.” Adira said with a smile.  
  
“Yaaay.” Varian said as everyone but Adira and Eugene headed for the caravan.  
  
“Hey, uh…” Eugene walked over to her. “Thanks…sorry I was so difficult.”  
  
“I understand the perils of pride. Quirin was also too proud. I hope he will come out of this with more humility.” She said, smiling. “You did well, Fish Skin.”  
  
“Why do you call me that, anyway?” She asked.  
  
“Because _you_ are the one that keeps your group together with warm smiles and laughter.” She explained. “You are the fish skin of the group. Fish skin is the primary ingredient, by the way, for glue. I used it to fix my boots, see how sturdy they are?” She lifted her foot.  
  
“I…oh. So…Fish Skin is a compliment?” He asked.  
  
She made a noncommittal noise.  
  
\--  
  
“Phew, that was close.” Rapunzel said as she stepped into the caravan. “What a rush, huh?”  
  
“I suppose so.” Donella said, sewing her shirt back together.  
  
Rapunzel walked over and stopped short. “Donella…that gold necklace you’re wearing…”  
  
“…You’ve seen it before, I am guessing?” Donella asked.  
  
“May I see it?” Rapunzel asked, trying to keep her voice from wavering.  
  
“I suppose this was only a matter of time.” Donella muttered, taking it off and handing it to her.  
  
Rapunzel looked it over with shaking hands and then opened it. “…Saporia…?” She breathed, seeing the familiar emblem.  
  
“I haven’t been a Separatist since before Varian was born, but I couldn’t let go of the necklace.” Donella said as she continued sewing. “I considered hiding it away, not wanting you to know. I heard about what Prince Andrew did. He was always an impulsive child.”  
  
“…’Prince Andrew’?” Rapunzel looked at her.  
  
“Yes.” She didn’t look at her. “I understand if you choose not to trust me now. However, whatever you may be thinking, I only came to Corona at Quirin’s behest. And I am only here to help Ulla’s son. Once this mess is over, I will return to my nomadic life with Hugo.”  
  
“Does he know?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“No.” She finished sewing. “And I do not intend to tell him.”  
  
Rapunzel looked at the necklace. “…Do you intend to tell Varian?”  
  
“I did not intend to tell _you_.” She laughed bitterly. “You see how well _that_ went.”  
  
Rapunzel closed the necklace and handed it back to her. “I don’t think you’re dangerous. I trust you.”  
  
Donella put it back on, then her shirt. “Thank you, Princess.”  
  
“…Is Andrew really the prince?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“Yes.” Donella nodded.  
  
“…Oh.” Rapunzel nodded. “I…I see. Uhm…so…” She leaned against the desk she was working at. “Those blueprints…and your story about the nomadic tribe?”  
  
“Well…they aren’t _nomadic_.” Donella shrugged.  
  
“…Wow.” Rapunzel nodded. “Okay. We’ll…keep this our secret. You and me.”  
  
“Thank you.” Donella pulled out the beastiary to start drawing a Drexis.  
  
“Alright, let’s make camp tonight and then we’re moving on!” Varian declared outside the caravan. Rapunzel looked over with a soft smile.  
  
“I think, though, it would be better if he found out from you _telling_ him, than if he found out by accident like _I_ did.” She said, looking at her.  
  
“Hm. Perhaps.” Donella said, not looking up from her drawing.  
  
\--  
  
“I’m going away again.” Adira told them. “I hope you will continue your training while I am away.”  
  
“Where do you go all the time?” Varian asked her. “Why can’t you just stay?” He gripped her coat.  
  
She smiled and rubbed his head. “I have my reasons. I will see you again soon, nephew. You’re doing so well, but try not to let the power corrupt you. And remember to meditate.”  
  
Varian nodded, letting go of her. “Okay. I’ll see you soon.”  
  
“Adira,” Eugene stepped forward. “Thank you for ev—”  
  
“Everything?” She smiled smugly. “I know, I’m amazing.” She gestured dramatically. “Once again, I have conquered the Forest of No Return, _and_ single-handedly pulled you out of a dire strait.”  
  
“Oh, you’re _insufferable!_ ” Eugene said as she walked away.  
  
“Oh, by the way, I have bronchitis.” She added as she left. “Which I didn’t even tell you about because, let’s face it, I’m a champion.”  
  
“Oh! Champion of my heart!” Lance swooned. Eugene smiled and patted his shoulder.  
  
“Pretty sure she’s bullshitting us.” Hugo commented. Eugene swatted the back of his head. “Ow!”  
  
“What did I say about the foul language?” Eugene asked.  
  
“And what did _I_ say about hitting _my kid_?” Donella asked warningly.  
  
“…Right.” Eugene looked a bit sheepish.  
  
“I hate to admit it…but, she’s growing on me.” Cassandra said as they watched her disappear into the horizon.  
  
“Well, that’s no surprise. Look how long it took _me_ to win you over.” Eugene said with a grin.  
  
“Or how fast you went from ‘Varian is annoying’ to ‘I would die for Varian’.” Rapunzel teased.  
  
“Hey, speaking of Varian, he’s going on.” Donella said, pointing to him walking over to the black rocks around them.  
  
Varian held out a hand and focused. The rock next to him shifted and then sank into the ground. “It’s not just the ones I create that I can manipulate, then.” He said softly, nodding. “Good to know.”  
  
“Varian! Back in the caravan, we’re moving on!” Rapunzel called to him.  
  
Varian walked back over to them and looked out towards where Adira disappeared to before he got in and they set off again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're finally out! And Rapunzel knows Donella's secret!


	33. 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the group encounters trouble with their caravan, they run afoul of a seemingly harmless old couple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

“Owl!” Rapunzel greeted as the owl flew over to them, a letter tied to his leg. Cassandra held out her arm and the bird flew down and landed. Rapunzel eagerly took the letter off and Varian went to her side to read it. “Okay, ready? ‘Rapunzel, Varian, it’s so good to hear from you’…”  
  
[ _Rapunzel, Varian, it’s so good to hear from you.  
  
I cannot describe the relief I felt when I saw your letter. I am glad to hear that you are doing well, and I hope it stays that way. I know that you still have so far to go and so much to see, and I hope to read all about it in your journal, Rapunzel.  
  
Your father and I are doing well, though there have been some concerns about the Saporians. Everyone is on edge, and we had a “visit” from one of them that ended with the docks being damaged and an emblem left painted to prove they were there. But, we will worry about that. You just worry about facing the Moonstone.  
  
I hope to hear from you again soon. Stay safe and try to stay healthy.  
  
We love you,  
Your parents,  
Queen Arianna and King Fredric_]  
  
Varian sighed. “Those damn Saporians…”  
  
“Hey, don’t use that kind of language.” Rapunzel scolded him gently.  
  
“Sorry.” Varian grinned sheepishly.  
  
“I’ll write up a reply, do you want to include anything?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“Oh, tell them about me learning to control the rocks!” Varian said excitedly.  
  
Rapunzel smiled and went to the desk in the caravan to start writing.  
  
“Letter from home?” Donella asked.  
  
“Yeah.” Varian frowned. “They’re having some trouble with the Separatists of Saporia.”  
  
Donella pursed her lips. “Trouble?”  
  
“Yeah. They attacked the docks. And before that, they attacked the science expo. Then Andrew showed up and caused a mess…” Varian sighed heavily. “If only we’d caught him before he and his accomplice escaped.”  
  
Donella sighed. “Varian…can I talk to you?”  
  
Varian blinked. “Uhm…sure.” He walked to the side with her.  
  
“There’s…something you should know. About me…and Ulla.” She said, glancing away.  
  
“My mother?” Varian asked.  
  
She nodded and sat on a rock away from the caravan. Varian sat with her. “First…you should know that there are good and bad apples in every barrel. And, sometimes, good apples fall out of the barrel before they become bad.”  
  
Varian blinked slowly. “Okay…?”  
  
She reached into her shirt. “I wanted to tell you myself…before you found out somehow on your own.” She pulled out the golden necklace he’d seen her holding before and held it out to him. “You _deserve_ to know.”  
  
Varian took the necklace, moving his hands over it. The shape…felt familiar. He opened it and gasped. “Saporia?” He breathed.  
  
“Your mother and I were both from Saporia. Or…what’s left of it, at least. We left around ten years before you were born and moved to Corona. We held onto our necklaces, so we never forgot where we came from, but we never helped them with what they did to Corona.” Donella said, her gaze shifted away, afraid to meet his eyes.  
  
He traced the emblem with his finger. “…What happened to her? To my mother?”  
  
“She….” She pursed her lips. “She was turned into…we found the Eternal Library, we put the totems together, but she…something went wrong, and she became…a demon. I had to seal her inside, to stop her from rampaging on the world.” She closed her eyes. “I wish I had _any_ other choice, at the time…”  
  
He continued tracing it, then closed it and handed it back. “…Like you said, some apples leave the barrel.” He said as she accepted it. “I’m not going to accuse you of being a part of Andrew’s schemes.”  
  
She smiled softly. “Thank you.”  
  
“Why _were_ you in Corona, then?” He asked curiously. “If not to help the Separatists?  
  
“She wanted to make a difference, like Demanitus. Unfortunately, things were _very different_ back in his time.” Donella sighed. “We didn’t get very far, and then she fell in love with the black knight that saved her life. A real fairytale love story.” She looked mildly annoyed and Varian laughed.  
  
“Black knight?” Varian asked.  
  
“Well, he wasn’t in shining armor.” Donella smiled wryly. “He saved us before…” She glanced to the side. “I wanted to save _him_ this time…but, magic is…”  
  
“Hey,” Varian nudged her with a smile. “You’re helping me with my quest. That’s repayment enough. If you can help keep the Moonstone away from me, that’s fine.” He glanced away. “Do you think… _mom_ might’ve been able to?”  
  
“No.” Donella sighed. “This…is way beyond us. I don’t know if even the great Demanitus could.”  
  
“Would Zhan Tiri be able to?” He whispered softly.  
  
She looked at him in alarm. “Varian, don’t _ever_ go down that train of thought. Zhan Tiri s a dangerous demon, Demanitus sealed him away for a _reason_.” She smiled. “Besides…we have a goal. That spell that Gothel didn’t want you to know, remember? Surely, it will help.”  
  
Varian sniffled. “What if it doesn’t?”  
  
Donella looked over at the others, who were all milling about getting ready for breakfast. Rapunzel walked over to Owl and tied a letter to his leg and then Cassandra set him off. “You have to have faith that it will, Varian.”  
  
Varian sighed. “Hugo said something before…when I was in that kinda’ possessed state. ‘You’re an alchemist, aren’t you? Be positive. Every mistake is a step towards success!’ Did you teach him that?”  
  
Donella chuckled. “It’s…kind of the creed of Saporia.” She admitted. “But, he doesn’t know that. Or my origins.”  
  
“How’d you meet him?” Varian looked over at him.  
  
“He picked my pocket and had nowhere to go and no one to turn to. So, I took him in.” She smiled fondly at the blond as he struggled with firewood, Eugene not making it easier by slinging an arm over his shoulder teasingly. “He’s grown up okay.”  
  
Varian chuckled as Hugo used a piece of wood to shove Eugene away. “Yeah, he has.”  
  
She raised an eyebrow, seeing a pink tint on his cheeks.  
  
\--  
  
“Okay, so…Adira isn’t here to lead, so I’ll lead. And, after we meditate, we’ll do some training.” Rapunzel said as they all sat in a circle.  
  
“Anyone know anything about this Hector guy, aside from ‘he’s going to kick our ass’?” Hugo asked.  
  
“He’s part of the Dark Brotherhood.” Varian shrugged.  
  
“Anything else?” Eugene asked.  
  
Varian shrugged again. “Aunt Adira…didn’t really talk about anyone but herself that much.”  
  
“I noticed. Also, I don’t think she really had bronchitis.” Eugene rolled his eyes and Cassandra smirked.  
  
“Hey, uh, you got a letter from home, right?” Lance asked. “What’s going on there?”  
  
“Nothing we can help with, we’ll just let the Royal Guard handle it.” Cassandra said, waving it off.  
  
“Come on, guys. Meditate.” Rapunzel closed her eyes. “Do you hear that? That is the sound of peaceful tranquility.”  
  
“I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling a kind of…creeping sensation on my back.” Lance said nervously.  
  
Donella looked over and pulled out a blowdart from her satchel, which she used to knock off the bug on his back. “There, it’s gone.”  
  
“Don’t tell me it was a spider...” Lance whimpered.  
  
“Okay, I won’t tell you.” Donella said, and Lance quickly got up and left that spot.  
  
“I don’t think we’re getting much meditation done, Blondie.” Eugene said as he got up.  
  
“You’re mean.” Hugo said to Donella as they got up.  
  
“I can’t let you have _all_ the fun.” She headed over to Lance. “It was a beetle.”  
  
Lance breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ve had enough of spiders to last me a lifetime.”  
  
“I’m sure.” She patted his shoulder. “Between The Baron’s spider and the Forest of No Return, you must be terrified. But, you’re weathering it well. You’re strong.”  
  
“Really?” He smiled at her.  
  
Rapunzel sighed. “I was _hoping_ this view would inspire you all to meditate, but I guess that’s not happening.”  
  
“Can we skip to the part where we get our asses kicked by Donella?” Hugo asked. “You know, since she’s almost as good as Adira?”  
  
“Actually, we’re running low on food, so let’s try to find a town.” Cassandra told them. “Come on, back into the caravan.”  
  
Varian nodded, then blinked as his streak started to glow. “Oh no. What now?”  
  
“Come on, Cass, we can take a little time to relax.” Rapunzel coaxed her, not noticing Varian’s new development. “We don’t even have to train, if you’re worried about getting your _butt_ whooped.”  
  
“We need food and I don’t see any berry bushes around.” Cassandra looked around. “We need to find another town.”  
  
“Why, so Rider can get engaged to someone else?” Hugo asked.  
  
“Hey, that was _one_ time.” Eugene insisted.  
  
“Come on, Cass, try to have a little fun here.” Rapunzel insisted.  
  
“If I want to have fun, I know where to find it.” Cassandra replied.  
  
“Where, a funeral home?” Lance teased.  
  
“Ohhh, snap!” Hugo laughed.  
  
Varian wandered off, their voices fading into the background.  
  
‘Something is making my powers react…dangerous or magical…or both?’ He thought.  
  
“Varian, where are you?!” Rapunzel cried, apparently having noticed he’d walked off.  
  
Donella walked over and found Varian sitting on a rock. “Getting tired of the drama?”  
  
“A bit.” He shrugged. “But…also concerned about this.” He pointed to his hair. “Could be nothing, though.”  
  
“Hm.” She looked thoughtful. “Well, we’d best be moving on.”  
  
He nodded and followed her back to the caravan.  
  
\--  
  
“You know, maybe we should meditate without getting our butts whooped after more often.” Eugene said as he rode up front with Lance.  
  
“Yeah, aside from the beetle, I feel so relaxed after it.” Lance agreed. “Nothing can rattle me.”  
  
The caravan hit a rock and a wheel busted off. Lance let out a long screech and the horses struggled to keep steady as the caravan slid forward.  
  
“Is everybody okay?!” Rapunzel asked. “I thought I heard a child scream.”  
  
“It was just Lance.” Eugene assured Rapunzel. “The wheel’s broken.”  
  
Donella got out and went to examine the wheel. “This is a simple enough fix. Hugo and I will handle this.” She said, and the blond teen came out to join her. “The rest of you, see about finding any food. Do any of you know how to hunt?”  
  
Hawk let out a screech and flew off.  
  
Varian got out and watched as Hugo went to get the wayward wheel. “Need help?”  
  
“We’ve got it, Glowy.” Hugo said teasingly. “Why is it glowing, anyway?”  
  
“I have no idea.” Varian sighed. “It’s an off and on thing, I guess. I thought it’d stopped…”  
  
“Well, we got it.” Hugo went on to Donella and she got out some tools.  
  
“Oh, we’ll help!” Eugene said, walking over and trying to lift the caravan. “Uhn....ngggh!”  
  
Donella looked at him unimpressed, set down the tools, then walked over and lifted the caravan. “Please. Go find food.”  
  
“…Right.” Eugene said awkwardly. Lance let out a swooning noise. “C’mon, Lance.”  
  
“She’s _strong_.” He said as Donella used some kind of tool to hold the caravan up while they worked on repairing the wheel.  
  
“How is she so _strong_?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“I mean, she works with alchemy. You know how much weightlifting is involved? Especially if she’s actually _built_ the stuff she draws blueprints of.” Varian reasoned.  
  
“Well, we should go looking for food.” Rapunzel said. “Cass, you’re with me. Lance, Eugene, you guys go together. Varian, can you keep an eye on the caravan, make sure nothing attacks them while they work?”  
  
“Yep.” Varian nodded.  
  
“Alright. Let’s go!” Rapunzel grabbed Cass’s arm and pulled her along.  
  
Varian set up black rocks around the perimeter like a fence but left one opening, which he guarded. He pulled out his knife, then paused, thinking of what Eugene had said earlier.  
  
 _~” Hey, think you can make a sword like Adira has?”~_  
  
He put his knife away and then focused, holding out his hand. ‘I am the Moonstone…’ He thought. ‘Bend it to my will…’ He positioned his hand like he was gripping a handle and focused, his eyes and hair glowing as he started to sing.  
  
“ _Crescent high above,  
Evolving as you go,  
Raise what lies beneath  
And let the darkness grow._”  
  
A black rock rose out of the ground and up to his hand, taking the shape of a sword slowly. _  
  
_“ _Bend it to my will.  
Consume the sunlight’s glow.  
Rise into the sky,  
And let the darkness grow.  
Let darkness grow._”  
  
He tightened his hold on the handle that had formed in his loose grip and pulled the sword from the ground. It seamlessly broke free and he stared in awe at it, his eyes lighting up. “Wow…” He grinned. “This one is going to Cassandra.”  
  
He swiped at the air with it a few times before grinning and walking over to the caravan. “You need any help?”  
  
“We’re fine, continue standing guard.” Donella said, then looked up and raised an eyebrow. “New sword?”  
  
“Just made it.” He grinned. “I’m gonna give it to Cassandra, but I’ll make Eugene one, too!”  
  
“Can I get a dagger?” Hugo asked.  
  
“I can try.” Varian nodded and then went back to standing guard.  
  
They finished repairing the caravan and then Donella checked her pocket-watch. “They have been gone a while. Perhaps we should go looking for them.”  
  
“Yeah.” Varian nodded, frowning as he saw a strange-looking duo of birds flying overhead. “What in the…?” He ran to get out the telescope he made for Rapunzel and set it up, looking at the birds hovering overhead. “Oh, that’s not good.”  
  
“What is it?” Hugo asked as he and Donella joined him.  
  
Varian stood up and cupped his hand around his mouth. “RAPUNZEL, GET DOWN HERE!”  
  
The birds flew down and the one with a yellow and purple pattern landed on his shoulder. “Hi, Varian! I’m a bird!”  
  
“I noticed. How?” He asked.  
  
“We drank some tea.” The other bird said, landing on Donella’s gauntlet. It looked a lot like…  
  
“Cassandra?” Donella looked concerned. “Where is this tea?”  
  
“We’ll show you!” Rapunzel chirped, then gasped. “Oops.”  
  
“Yeah, show us. I have a bad feeling.” Varian said, going to put the telescope away.  
  
They followed the two birds, Varian putting black rocks around the caravan to protect it from any bandits.  
  
“Oh, you’ve returned!” An old woman said. Varian noticed a bird cage filled with strange-looking birds and his eyes flashed.  
  
“ _You’re_ the dangerous magic.” He said, his hair and eyes starting to glow.  
  
The woman looked surprised and the man with her stepped forward. “And _you_ are the piece of the Moonstone we’ve been hearing about! Fascinating! Wouldn’t you like some tea?” He offered.  
  
“The tea turned us into birds.” Rapunzel told Varian.  
  
Varian narrowed his eyes and held out a hand, black spikes shooting out of the ground. “Restore everyone and open that cage. Or else _I’ll_ be doing it after you’re _dead_.”  
  
“Holy shit.” Hugo breathed.  
  
“Oh, goodness!” The woman said in alarm.  
  
The man tried to placate him. “Now, now, there’s nothing wrong with—”  
  
“Kid!” One of the birds called with Eugene’s voice. “Get us out of here!”  
  
Varian held out a hand and smashed the cage open with a black rock. The birds all escaped and he thought he recognized Adira’s face-paint among the escaping birds.  
  
“No, our birds!” The woman cried as they all landed on the ground near Varian. She gasped as the black rocks moved closer. “A-alright, Moon Boy, alright. You win. Go get the eggs.” She told the man.  
  
He grumbled a bit but went inside the house to get them.  
  
Donella walked over, pulled out a vial and poured some of the contents of the teapot into it before closing it. “Might be fun to try to recreate it.”  
  
“Oh, hey, we should get one of those eggs, too.” Hugo mused as they were brought out.  
  
“If there’s any left.” Donella said as the man started restoring the birds one by one.  
  
“Really, there was no need for all…this.” He gestured to the black rocks, and Varian scowled, the rock he gestured to growing a bit taller. “Temper, temper. I wouldn’t _dream_ of challenging you, child. To think, this is the child Zhan Tiri saw in her visions.”  
  
“Zhan Tiri?” He frowned.  
  
“Oh, so now the demon is a _her_?” Hugo asked.  
  
“It’s a shapeshifting demon. It can probably be whatever gender or natural disaster it wants to be.” Cassandra said as she checked herself over for feathers.  
  
“You know Zhan Tiri?” Rapunzel asked, walking over and moving her arms around Varian protectively.  
  
“Know her? Why, we used to serve her and Lord Demanitus, until they turned on each other.” The old woman said.  
  
“Quite the dreadful mess, that one.” The man finished restoring everyone.  
  
“Why did they begin fighting?” Varian asked.  
  
“Because she didn’t just want to _study_ the Sundrop and Moonstone, she wanted to _use_ them. But, Demanitus didn’t like that and cast her away.” The old woman sighed. “Then their different followers had to take sides and _that_ got messy. If you weren’t with them, you were against them. No neutral parties there. My husband and I were sealed away and can only be here in your world because of our teapot.” She gestured to it.  
  
“So, what happens if we destroy it?” Eugene asked.  
  
“We are banished to the other realm again, never to return.” The man said grimly. “Surely, you would not do that to us?”  
  
“I mean…you tricked me into becoming a _bird_.” Eugene walked over and looked at the teapot.  
  
“We will leave it intact, provided you don’t turn anyone into a bird again.” Varian said firmly.  
  
“If we find out you have, it’s getting smashed!” Cassandra said firmly.  
  
“I think they get the picture, Shorthair.” Adira said, having finished checking herself over. “I suggest we leave them with a warning and continue on the path to the Dark Kingdom.”  
  
Varian nodded. “Yeah. The Moonstone is waiting.”  
  
“Be careful, Sliver.” The man said as they turned to go.  
  
Varian looked over at him. “What did you call me?”  
  
“Sliver. A piece of something. In this case, the Moonstone. Your journey will not be a simple one. Take care the darkness you so freely wield doesn’t consume you.” He ran his hand along one of the black rocks.  
  
“It won’t.” Rapunzel said, holding Varian close. “He’s strong, and he’s not alone.”  
  
“Ah, but the closer you get to light…the bigger the shadow becomes.” The woman said with a sly smile. “How long can you banish the shadows from the little sliver’s mind?”  
  
“And how long can you stay by his side?” The man added.  
  
“Let’s go.” Rapunzel took Varian’s hand and led them all back to the caravan.  
  
“Well, that was weird. Oh!” Varian went to the sword he made. “Cassandra, I made you something!” He held it out to her.  
  
“Oh, sweet!” Eugene said as Cassandra accepted the sword. “Do we all get one?”  
  
“Yeah, but this one is hers.” Varian smiled fondly.  
  
Cassandra looked over the black rock sword. “It’s beautiful.” She smiled, held it to the side and hugged him with one arm. “Thanks, Varian.”  
  
He beamed.  
  
“Hey, when am I getting my dagger?” Hugo joked.  
  
“I’ll be making everyone weapons soon.” Varian assured him. “Even a frying pan.” He smiled at Rapunzel.  
  
She gasped. “Really? What about horseshoes, for Max and Fidella?”  
  
“I don’t know how to make those.” He looked thoughtful. “But…I can study their hooves, that’s a start!”  
  
“What about armor?” Cassandra joked.  
  
“I think it’s too soon for him to be making things with different shapes.” Adira cut in. “He will need more practice using them at all, and also learn to control his temper.”  
  
Varian pouted. “Aaaaunt Adiiiraaaa.”  
  
She smiled. “Luckily, since I’m here, we can do some training.”  
  
There was a collective of groans and she smiled smugly.  
  
\--  
  
“Mother Gothel must’ve known those people.” Rapunzel said as they continued on down the road. “Her books mention Demanitus and Zhan Tiri, right?”  
  
Varian nodded. “Zhan Tiri had…visions about me?” He murmured.  
  
“Considering the source, maybe we shouldn’t take it at face value.” Eugene suggested.  
  
“Yeah, crazy bird people probably made half that shit up.” Hugo said, yawning.  
  
“If only we had a way to contact Demanitus himself…” Donella muttered, turning the page of the book she was reading. “But, he’s long gone.”  
  
“Well, it doesn’t really change much, does it? We’re still going to the Dark Kingdom.” Lance shrugged.  
  
“He’s right.” Adira said from above them. “However, it would be wise to also seek the Spire.”  
  
“We know.” Varian assured her. “Are you sticking around?”  
  
“Just for a little while. Just to make sure you’ve done some more training.” She replied.  
  
“Yeah…hey, since you’re here, what can you tell us about Hector?” Varian asked, getting up and climbing through the skylight to join her.  
  
“He’s dangerous.” She said grimly. “And a bit…unstable.”  
  
“Unstable?” Varian asked.  
  
“The Moonstone has been influencing him far longer than it has been influencing your life. He is consumed by a darkness and calls me a traitor for seeking to stop the Moonstone.” Adira fidgeted with her sword. “By the way, nice work with the sword.”  
  
Varian smiled. “Thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hector, Zhan Tiri, the Moonstone, what ELSE do they have to worry about?


	34. 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Rapunzel and Eugene run off together without notice, Donella encourages the rest of them to go searching and Varian meets a friend he hasn't seen in a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

“So…” Rapunzel looked over Donella’s shoulder. “Can you…make the antidote?”  
  
“I’m still studying this tea but I’m sure I’ll be able to.” She said calmly. “You’re in my light, Rapunzel.”  
  
“Oh, sorry.” She stepped back, blushing a bit. “So…uhm…can you…” She looked around and went to close the door and windows. “Can you tell me about Saporia?”  
  
Donella laughed a bit. “I don’t know too much what it was like before, Princess. Only stories told to me as a child.”  
  
Rapunzel got comfortable on her bed, smiling eagerly.  
  
Donella sighed and looked at her. “Well…”  
  
The door opened and Cassandra came in. “Eugene’s taking the reins.” She told Rapunzel. “You want to go out there and keep him company?”  
  
“Oh, okay!” Rapunzel got up. “We’ll talk later, Donella.”  
  
Donella nodded and Rapunzel headed out.  
  
Cassandra opened the windows. “Did I interrupt something?”  
  
“No, we were just talking.” Donella said, going back to her study of the tea. “I should really bring Varian and Hugo in on this, but Lance seems to be intent on teaching Varian how to gamble and Hugo is ‘cleaning them out’.”  
  
“Why are you trying to learn how to make that tea, anyway?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“If I can recreate it and its antidote, it might come in handy for when we need a bird’s eye view of a situation.” Donella said calmly.  
  
“Hm.” Cassandra nodded. “Okay, fair point.” She stretched out and sat on Rapunzel’s bed. “So…”  
  
“Yes?” Donella asked, glancing at her.  
  
“I don’t know much about you.” She shrugged. “Aside from your being from a nomadic tribe of alchemists and knowing Varian’s parents.”  
  
“And I know nothing about _you_ , aside from you being the adopted daughter of the Captain of the Corona Royal Guard.” Donella pointed out.  
  
“Fair point.” Cassandra nodded. “How about we do this, then? I tell you something about me, and you tell me something about you?”  
  
“Hm…alright.” Donella nodded.  
  
“Okay.” Cassandra nodded. “Uhm…gosh, where do I start.”  
  
“What happened to your real parents?” Donella asked.  
  
“Oh, wow. Uhm, I don’t know.” Cassandra admitted. “Everything before I was five years old and getting adopted is just…a blur. I keep hearing a song in my head, though. I think they sang it to me, or…I don’t know.” She shifted a bit “Your turn.”  
  
“What do you want to hear?” Donella asked.  
  
“Why is the tribe nomadic? And does it have a name?” Cassandra asked eagerly.  
  
Donella looked over at her. “Cassandra, that is two questions.”  
  
“Oh, fine. Uhm, I learned how to train Owl to work with me from my dad. There, that’s two facts about me.” Cassandra leaned forward expectantly.  
  
Donella sighed. “They are nomadic because their land was stolen from them and they were driven out at sword-point.” She said grimly. “Those that didn’t escape were captured and enslaved.”  
  
“Oh…wow.” Cassandra breathed. “And…the name?”  
  
Donella smiled grimly. “Saporia.”  
  
Cassandra’s eyes widened. “You were—what?!”  
  
“Yes.” Donella nodded. “I am descended from the survivors of the Saporia massacre.”  
  
“Massacre?” Cassandra stood up. “What do you mean?”  
  
“What do they teach you in Corona?” Donella asked.  
  
“Corona and Saporia merged after the Coronan King fell in love with the Saporian General.” Cassandra replied.  
  
“You seem rather calm about learning my origins.” Donella said, looking at her.  
  
“Well…” Cassandra shrugged. “If you were gonna hurt Rapunzel, you’ve had all the chances. You seem to be pretty focused on just helping us. So, what did you mean by—”  
  
The door to the guy’s side opened. “Hey, not sure what you’re talking about, but Rider and the princess took off with the horses.” Hugo said, pointing out the window.  
  
“They did _what_?!” Cassandra turned to him.  
  
Donella sighed heavily. “Well, they’re young but adults. Let them have their fun, I’m sure they can’t do anything with Varian here.”  
  
“Just _what_ are you implying?!” Varian poked his head into the room.  
  
“A young couple, running off into the woods alone without a word to us?” Donella smirked. “Surely, they’re looking for some….’alone time’. If you understand my meaning.”  
  
“We’re going after them.” Cassandra said firmly.  
  
“Agreed.” Varian nodded.  
  
“Do we have to?” Hugo asked.  
  
\--  
  
“Rapunzel!” Varian called as they walked through the woods. “Hey! Rapunzel!”  
  
“Eugene!” Lance called.  
  
Hawk and Ruddiger came back to them. “Did you find them?” Varian asked as Ruddiger jumped into his arms and Hawk landed on Donella’s gauntlet.  
  
Ruddiger shook his head and Hawk let out a croon.  
  
“They left Pascal, too.” Hugo said, looking at the chameleon that was practically blending in with his jacket.  
  
“All the more reason to suspect they wanted some time alone.” Donella said.  
  
Cassandra groaned. “Come on, Fitzherbert. Where are—”  
  
“Monkey!” Varian yelped as a monkey with a turban came bursting out of the bushes. It looked around, then ran to hide behind Varian. “Whoa, hey!” He looked down at it.  
  
“What _is_ it with you and animals, Stripes?” Hugo remarked.  
  
They heard a rustle in the bushes and went for their weapons. To their surprise, Angry came running out. “Hey, where did he go?!  
  
Red came running out after her and then gasped, pointing to the group. “There! With Var!”  
  
Angry turned to them. “Oh!”  
  
Varian raised an eyebrow. “Hey, girls. What trouble are you getting into this time?” He asked, moving a hand to his alchemy bag.  
  
“We’re not getting in _trouble_.” Angry walked over to him, then looked around. “Uh, where’s your sister?”  
  
“We’re actually looking for her ourselves. Oh, Hugo, Donella, this is Angry and Red.” Varian introduced, moving his hand away from his bag.  
  
“Hi. Look, uh, we need this monkey.” Angry said, fiddling with her leaf necklace.  
  
“Why?” Varian asked.  
  
“Because he can lead me to my family!” Angry said firmly.  
  
“Your family?” Lance asked.  
  
“Yeah!” Angry nodded.  
  
“Found you!” Eugene said as he and Rapunzel came riding into the area. “Oh, and uh, everyone else?”  
  
“The caravan is surrounded by black rocks, don’t worry.” Varian assured him.  
  
“Black rocks?” Red asked.  
  
“Yeah, I can actually control them now.” Varian grinned.  
  
“Ohhh…” She said in awe.  
  
“Right, yeah. Angry.” Eugene got down from Maximus. “You _have_ to give back the monkey.”  
  
“’Give back’?” Cassandra looked at her. “You _stole_ it?”  
  
“Just for a bit! I was gonna give him back!” Angry insisted. “I swear, I’m trying to stop stealing! I just want to find my family! Please!”  
  
“Look…” Eugene sighed. “Why don’t you tell us what’s going on?”  
  
“Maybe _we_ can help you.” Rapunzel said with a smile. “Oh, but first…hugs are long overdue!” She ran forward and hugged both the girls. “I’m so glad you’re okay! We’ve missed you so much!”  
  
“We missed you, too! Especially Red.” Angry nudged her sister with a smile. “She won’t shut up about you all.” She paused. “But, uh…why are _you_ out here?”  
  
“Story for story, what’s yours?” Hugo asked casually.  
  
“Yeah, and why did you leave my comb behind at the wagon?” Eugene pulled the comb out and Hugo raised an eyebrow at the engraved “Flynn Rider” on it. “I gave it to you because it was the first thing I ever stole and—"   
  
“And a shameful reminder of your past. We know.” Angry said, taking it back and putting it in her neck-scarf. “Well, first of all, we haven’t stolen _anything_ since we left Corona. Honest! Those bags of yours have really helped, and we’ve been living off the land and doing odd jobs otherwise.” Angry explained.  
  
“Really?” Rapunzel beamed.  
  
“So…why steal the monkey?” Varian asked, looking at the monkey that was currently trying to climb up his side with Ruddiger pawing at it aggressively.  
  
“Borrowed. We _borrowed_ him. Without asking. We’re going to give him back, I said!” Angry insisted. “And we had no choice! This money holds a very important secret.”  
  
The monkey let out a belch toward Ruddiger and Ruddiger hissed at him in response.  
  
“If you two can’t play nice, you’re both getting off.” Varian said as Hugo laughed.  
  
Ruddiger nuzzled him and patted his cheek in apology. The monkey just started gnawing on the handle of his bag and he pulled him off and held him in his arms instead.  
  
“So, does the monkey have a name?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“’Vigor the Visionary’. He’s a fortune-teller.” Rapunzel explained.  
  
“Can we continue?” Red asked impatiently.  
  
“Right, sorry.” Rapunzel smiled apologetically.  
  
“Okay, so, Red and me are walking through the forest, and this _weird lady_ come out of _nowhere_ and says, ‘Have you heard of this psychic? He can tell you your future _and_ your past for one silver piece! It’s a special one-time-only offer’.” Angry went on.  
  
“Whoa, wait, you only got charged _one_? We got charged _five_!” Eugene said in exasperation.  
  
“Not important.” Varian and Donella said in unison.  
  
“She’s a crook!” He insisted.  
  
“And they’re _kids_.” Varian raised an eyebrow. “Moving on.”  
  
Eugene grumbled. “Though, not gonna lie, I’m oddly impressed.”  
  
Angry rolled her eyes. “So, then, this monkey comes out and does a weird future-predicting dance. Then he gets this funny look on his face and grabs my necklace.” She clutched at it. “The weird lady says, ‘The necklace you’re wearing has been in your family for a long time.’ And I think, ‘how does _he_ know that this is the _only_ thing I have left from my family’? Then, she reads our fortune.”   
  
She pulled out a piece of green paper. “’Follow the leaf to find your tree’. Tree? Like, a family tree? Are you saying I have family somewhere?” She put the fortune back into her scarf with the comb. “I didn’t even _know_ my family existed! Then, she tells us, ‘if it is your family you seek, Vigor can show you. But, you gotta give the monkey more money’.”  
  
She sighed. “When she finds out we’re broke, she says ‘No money? No monkey’.”  
  
“That’s rude. Your stealing it is _totally_ justified, they led you on!” Hugo declared.  
  
“Yeah, no, let’s _not_ get advice from the thief.” Cassandra looked at him.  
  
“Hey, I only steal things Donella tells me to.” Hugo reminded her.  
  
“So,” Angry went on, “we decided to borrow the monkey.”  
  
Eugene sighed. “Hugo’s right, it _is_ understandable why you did it. And, before I met Rapunzel, I probably would have done the same thing. But, no matter what the reason, borrowing without asking is stealing and stealing is wrong.”  
  
“I dunno, _sometimes_ stealing is good.” Hugo said, and Lance shrugged.  
  
“Can someone take that kid away from this lesson in morality?” Eugene asked.  
  
Varian chuckled. “I dunno, I think he _needs_ it.”  
  
Eugene sighed heavily. “You _have_ to bring him back.”  
  
“No, no, no!” Angry ran to Varian to try to take the monkey, who was currently gnawing on the streak in his hair. “I can’t bring him back _now_!”  
  
“Well, if you can _reach_ him, you can take him.” Varian said teasingly.  
  
Angry hopped up and down to try to reach and then yelped as she was enveloped in pink smoke. “Oh, come on!”  
  
Varian grinned, stepping back from the goo-trapped girl. “Took your eyes off my hands, that was your mistake.”  
  
She fumed.  
  
“Eugene…” Rapunzel turned to him. “I know you want them to do the right thing. I do, too.” He turned to her as she continued, the two embracing a bit. “But, Angry and Red have been on their own for a long time.”  
  
Angry struggled with the goo while Red walked over and tentatively reached for Vigor.  
  
“And if there’s even the _slightest_ chance that Vigor can lead them to a home, shouldn’t we take it?” Rapunzel went on.  
  
“Look, kid.” Eugene walked over and placed his hand on Angry’s shoulder. “I don’t think the monkey actually knows anything and is just a crock, but fine.”  
  
Varian pulled out the neutralizer and released Angry from the goo as Eugene went on. “That said, you _have_ to promise on Maximus’ life—” the horse gave him a _look_ and an offended snort but Eugene ignored it, “—that you will give Vigor back once the search is done and he proves to be a phony.”  
  
“Is that clear, you two?” Rapunzel asked with a smile.  
  
The two girls looked at each other, then Angry held out a hand. “Deal.”  
  
Eugene shook her hand with a smile.  
  
“Whoo, another adventure.” Cassandra said blandly.  
  
“Speaking of adventure, where _were_ you two?” Donella asked them.  
  
“Apple picking!” Rapunzel said cheerfully, going to Fidella’s saddlebag and opening it.  
  
“Oh, look, nothing to worry about after all.” Lance said, laughing a bit.  
  
“Can someone free my hair from this monkey? _Yes_ , the streak keeps growing back every time you bite it off, you dumb primate.” Varian said with annoyance.  
  
Donella reached over and picked up the monkey before handing him to Rapunzel when she came back over to them. Eugene jerked back when the monkey started to sniff him and then it started to gnaw on Rapunzel’s hair. “So, now all we gotta do is figure out how to get Vigor to do his thing!” Rapunzel said enthusiastically.  
  
“Oh, _that_ won’t be hard to figure out.” Eugene said, pulling out his coin pouch and pulling out a silver piece. He flipped it before catching it and then holding it out to Vigor. “Hey, little fella. Where can we find Angry’s family?”  
  
It was like a switch had been flipped. The monkey leaped off Rapunzel and onto a stump, where he pulled a pack of tarot cards from his turban and spread them out, then picked up one of them.  
  
“’The Wheel of Fortune’?” Angry asked, confused.  
  
To their shock and utter confusion, Vigor _ate_ the card. “Why would he _eat_ it?” Rapunzel wondered aloud.  
  
“Well, it _probably_ means his diet is deficient in fiber.” Eugene guessed.  
  
Red pulled out some kind of rolled up parchment and opened it, then looked at it with a gasp before she tugged on Rapunzel’s dress to get her attention.  
  
“Hm?” Rapunzel looked at her as Red turned a map to them and pointed to a spot on it that said “Fortuna”. She gasped and knelt to look at it better. “Red is right! There’s a city named Fortuna not too far from here!”  
  
“Great, let’s get back to the caravan then.” Cassandra suggested.   
  
“We need to restock.” Lance nodded.  
  
“No, no. I mean that _that’s_ what ‘Wheel of Fortune’ meant!” Rapunzel turned to them. “’Fortune’, ‘Fortuna’!”  
  
Eugene laughed derisively. “Come on!”  
  
“Oh, relax, would you? It’s not like the Dark Kingdom is _going_ anywhere.” Varian said as they headed back to the caravan, Vigor hopping onto his head.  
  
“It _has_ to be a coincidence.” Eugene declared as they walked. “Getting ‘Fortuna’ out of ‘Wheel of Fortune’? Definitely a coincidence.”  
  
“Can someone explain why the monkey is on me again?” Varian asked as Donella took it off and handed it to Rapunzel once more.  
  
“Is it a coincidence, Vigor?” Rapunzel said, looking at the monkey in her arms. “Blink twice for ‘yes’ and once for ‘no’.”   
  
Vigor blinked once and she gasped, Angry and Red joining in. “Oh! Oh! What was that?” Rapunzel looked at Eugene. “Why, it looks like a single eye blink! Is _that_ a coincidence?”  
  
“Rapunzel,” Varian sighed before Eugene could reply, “you’re reading into it. He’s just a trained monkey.”  
  
“I think you _both_ are too skeptical.” She said slyly. “And Vigor is going to prove to you that he _is_ genuine!”  
  
“Sure, sis.” Varian chuckled a bit. “Sure.”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is the monkey the real deal, or just a con?


	35. 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group follow Vigor's directions to Angry's family, but something doesn't feel right.

“So, why are you out here?” Angry asked as they rode the caravan to Fortuna.  
  
“Uh, it’s a bit of a long story. But, to shorten it, the black rocks I summon when I get mad are being sent by the Moonstone, which is a sentient ancient rock in the Dark Kingdom. I can summon them because, somehow, I was born with some of its power, and we’re going to the Dark Kingdom because she literally threatened the lives of everyone in Corona if I didn’t. And they’re coming with me to try to ensure I come back alive.” Varian explained.  
  
“Wow.” Angry laughed awkwardly. “That’s…wow.”  
  
Red scooted closer to him and Ruddiger climbed into her lap for her to start petting him.  
  
“It’s good to see you girls, though. Really.” Varian smiled softly. “Nice to see a familiar and friendly face out here. I really hope that you find your family.”  
  
She nodded. “What about your dad, though? How come he’s not here?”  
  
He tensed. “He…” He clenched his fists. “…There was an accident in the lab. He’s…he’s been trapped in amber, created from the black rocks being transformed. But, I’m going to find a way to set him free.”  
  
“Oh, geez…” Angry cringed. “Sorry, Var.”  
  
“It’s fine.” He smiled and reached up to rub her head. “You’re a good kid. Sorry about putting you in goo again.”  
  
“Meh.” She shrugged. “It’s fine. I _did_ steal in your area again.” She grinned.  
  
He grinned. “You remembered.”  
  
\--  
  
“Hey, Donella?” Rapunzel asked as she sat with Vigor, watching the woman work with the tea again. “Why did everyone get so worried around me going off with Eugene alone?”  
  
“Well, you _did_ leave your lizard behind and slip away without telling us where you were going.” She chuckled. “I _may_ have implied that you and Eugene went off to…well, do you know what ‘making love’ is?”  
  
Rapunzel blinked in confusion. “I…don’t? I lived in a tower for eighteen years.”  
  
Donella laughed a bit. “Well, when a couple love each other _very_ much, they tend to go off into the woods or a bedroom and…” She looked over at her. “Oh dear. _Don’t_ tell me Gothel never told you about sex.”  
  
“…About what?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
Donella sighed heavily. “Very well.” She turned to her. “Better you learn from me than from Eugene. Listen closely…”  
  
That night at dinner, Rapunzel couldn’t look anyone in the eyes, her face as red as the strawberry she was eating.  
  
Varian looked at her with concern and got up to walk over and join her. “…Rapunzel?”  
  
“Yes?!” She squeaked.  
  
“What’s got _you_ so flustered?” Hugo asked.  
  
Donella smirked and sipped at her soup.  
  
“…What did you do?” Eugene asked.  
  
“Oh, nothing.” Donella said casually. “I just found out that Gothel left out a certain vital part of her schooling when she was in the tower and…amended the matter.”  
  
Eugene’s jaw dropped. “You—what—you—”  
  
“What?” Varian asked.  
  
“I’ll tell you when you’re older.” Rapunzel said nervously, moving her hands to cover her cheeks.  
  
Cassandra laughed a bit. “Wow, Raps.”  
  
“Well, better late than never.” Lance shrugged.  
  
Varian looked at the younger girls and shrugged. Hugo walked over and knelt next to Varian. “I can tell you later, if you want.” He whispered. “Once the younger girls are gone.”  
  
“You know?” Varian looked at him.  
  
Hugo nodded, grinning.  
  
\--  
  
Fortuna was bleak. Mist covered the city and people closed their doors and windows as they passed through it. “This place gives me the creeps.” Rapunzel said nervously.  
  
“Ahh, there’s nothing to worry about, it’s just a quiet little town.” Eugene assured her, then paused when they heard someone sobbing in the mist. “With sad, foreboding crying.”  
  
“Great…” Varian cringed  
  
The crying got louder as they approached a barrel with a moving lid and they cautiously stopped the caravan and got out.  
  
The lid lifted and an octopus inside yelled said “BEWARE!”  
  
“What the hell?!” Varian stepped back, black rocks forming around them protectively.  
  
Vigor escaped Rapunzel’s arms and fled onto a rooftop. Eugene reached out a hand to place it on Varian’s shoulder to calm him down. “Okay, psychic monkeys and now we’ve got a talking octopus, I assume? Yeah, sure. That’s-that’s normal. Why not?”  
  
“Ye scared the whole town, ye did!” A man said, poking his head up to reveal the octopus was just on his head. “We thought you were…” He glanced around nervously. “THE DAYLIGHTS!”  
  
“What are The Daylights?” Varian asked, lowering the black rocks back into the ground.  
  
“The Daylight Thieves.” Another man poked his head out of the shadows.  
  
“Nasty crooks of the _worst kind_ , they be!” The first guy declared.  
  
“They stole my one-of-a-kind mahogany piccolo.” The second guy informed them. “And now, I… _have no instrument_!”  
  
“T’was a fine piccolo, as piccolos be.” The first guy said wistfully.  
  
“It really was.” The second man said. “It really was.” He started to sob. “Alack! Alas! What is a minstrel without his trusty piccolo?!” He sighed. “Just a lonely man…in _fancy_ , ragged pantaloons.”  
  
“Beware!” The first one declared again. “Beware the Daylight Thieves!”  
  
They started to sink back into their hiding places, repeating “Beware” over and over.  
  
“Aaaand scene.” Eugene pushed the lid of the barrel down firmly. “…Right. Back in the caravan.” Eugene told the others.  
  
“Vigor.” Varian called, and the monkey leaned on a weathervane, turning it east. “Come on, Vigor, we’re going.”  
  
“I think he wants us to go east.” Angry guessed.  
  
“East it is.” Eugene said as they all got back in, Vigor hopping down onto Varian and earning a hiss from Ruddiger in response. Varian scolded him gently as he went in with everyone but Eugene and Rapunzel.  
  
“Ruddiger _really_ doesn’t like him.” Rapunzel remarked as she got in front with Eugene and they set off.  
  
“I think that’s just because he keeps jumping on Varian.” Eugene sighed, gripping the reins tightly.  
  
“Eugene?” Rapunzel noticed his tight grip. “What’s wrong? You seem…tense.”  
  
Eugene sighed. “I’m just worried, Blondie. That’s all. I mean, what we’ve come all this way and she finds nothing?”  
  
Rapunzel took his hand gently. “Don’t worry.” She said, then leaned in and kissed him sweetly. “Whatever happens, _we’ll_ be there for them.”  
  
\--  
  
“Sooo, instead of a bleak and creepy mist-covered town, we are now going through a bleak and creepy mist-covered _forest_.” Hugo said as he looked out a window.  
  
“I don’t get it.” Angry looked confused. “It _should_ be here…”  
  
“Well, it _might_ be…but I can’t see a _thing_ through all this mist.” Rapunzel replied from outside the caravan.  
  
“Well, the end of the line is Snake Canyon.” Eugene informed them. “And that’s kind of—” he gasped as Maximus and Fidella both pulled to a stop, “—hard to miss!”  
  
They all got out of the caravan to look out at the canyon. “Wow. Look at the view. It’s…misty.” Hugo remarked.  
  
“So…Vigor wants us to jump off a cliff, apparently.” Donella remarked.  
  
“Vigor?” Rapunzel looked at him. “This is a dead end. What do we do now?”  
  
Vigor seemed to ignore her. Varian picked up the monkey and narrowed his eyes. “Look you, primate. You can either _help_ us, or we’ll drop you into the canyon!”  
  
“Varian, no!” Rapunzel took the monkey from him.  
  
“Maybe we need another coin?” Angry suggested.  
  
“We’re _not_ going to keep giving money to this thing, we already paid it _once_.” Varian said firmly. “Just look around, we’ll find something.”  
  
“Found a bridge!” Hugo pointed to it and Varian smirked at Vigor smugly and put black rocks around the caravan to protect it before they headed for the bridge.  
  
“Soooo, do you _also_ not believe in it, or are you just mad he’s trying to take more money?” Eugene asked as they started across.  
  
“Both.” Varian shrugged. “He already got paid for the job once and the job isn’t done. If he’s going to be useless then we’ll find the way ourselves.”  
  
The long, rickety bridge took them to a very small cliff with a single building and tree on it. The building had a hanging sign with a tree on it, the sign being the same color as Angry’s leaf necklace.  
  
Angry ran towards it with a gasp, seeing someone walking around inside. “Look! There’s people inside!”  
  
Varian moved his hand to his alchemy bag warily while Eugene walked up to Angry and knelt next to her. “Look, I know you’re excited, but let’s play it cool. Okay?” He said anxiously. “Seeing you will probably be a shock to them, so _we_ should do the talking, first.” He gestured to Rapunzel and himself.  
  
“The rest of us will wait out here.” Donella said calmly, nodding to Lance and Hugo.  
  
“I’m going, though.” Varian said, nodding. “Just…just in case things go bad and we need a quick getaway.”  
  
“Me too.” Cassandra nodded.  
  
Angry nodded and then they went to the door. Eugene knocked twice and they waited before the door opened. Vigor squirmed in Rapunzel’s arms.  
  
The door opened and Angry gasped, starting to run forward. “Mom, it’s—”  
  
“Wait!” Varian moved forward before Eugene could and grabbed her arm. “We need to make sure, first!”  
  
“But—”  
  
“Angry.” He pulled her back. “We don’t know for sure.”  
  
The woman looked startled by their arrival. “I…do I know you?”  
  
“I’m your daughter!” Angry said excitedly.  
  
“Angry, sweetie, we said to let us do the talking.” Rapunzel said nervously. “Uhm, sorry for this sudden visit. You see, we’ve been trying to find this girl’s family, and a fortune teller told us that it was, well, where you are now! So, here she is!”  
  
The woman looked completely flabbergasted, then smiled and knelt down. “My baby!” She opened her arms. Angry broke free of Varian’s hold and ran into her arms. “Finally!” She held her tightly in her arms. “After all these years!”  
  
Something didn’t feel right. Varian was getting those Gothel vibes again. Something was really wrong, but he couldn’t figure it out.  
  
Vigor squirmed in Rapunzel’s arms and she let him down, watching as he ran off to explore the building with a shrug before she looked back at the happy scene.  
  
“William, our…” The woman looked to the side. “Our little girl has come home!”  
  
A man came out of a room behind her. “What was that, Petunia?” The woman gestured to Angry and he smiled, kneeling down to look at her closer. “I thought we would _never_ see you again!” He hugged them both. “Thank goodness you’re home!”  
  
“Aww.” Rapunzel said as she and Eugene smiled adoringly at the reunion.  
  
Cassandra glanced at Varian, who was for some reason still on-edge, his hand fingering his alchemy bag like he thought danger was about to strike.  
  
“Wait,” Angry pulled back, “you gotta take Red, too.” She looked back at her parents with a smile. “We’re a package deal.”  
  
“Oh, of _course_ she’s welcome.” The man said, holding out a hand invitingly to the other little girl.  
  
Red stepped out from behind Rapunzel and ran to join them when Angry also reached out to her. Varian didn’t try to stop her, but his gaze was not as warm as the others’. Rapunzel nudged him and he sighed, forcing a smile.  
  
He still felt like something was _really wrong_.  
  
Angry looked back at them from the group hug. “Thank you.” She said in a soft voice her eyes shining with tears of joy.  
  
“We should…go.” Eugene said softly, leading the others away and closing the door, Vigor running out to join them.  
  
They stepped away from the door and headed for the bridge, but Varian refused to leave the little cliff. “Varian?” Rapunzel looked back at him.  
  
“Something doesn’t feel right. And the last time I ignored this feeling, I nearly summoned a demon.” He told her. “I’m not leaving yet.”  
  
“But, look how happy the girls are!” Rapunzel gestured to the building. “How can that be bad?”  
  
Varian looked to the building. “I don’t know yet. But, I’m not _ever_ going to make the mistake of not trusting this feeling again.”  
  
“Me too, actually.” Eugene admitted. “It feels…wrong, somehow.” He walked over to the door.  
  
They heard a wind instrument being played and Rapunzel looked down to see him playing a mahogany piccolo.  
  
“…What?” Varian knelt to take it and looked it over when the monkey gave it easily. “Well, what do we have here?” He smiled and took out a silver piece, handing it to Vigor. “Good _boy_ , Vigor.” He stood up, holding the piccolo. “I know what that bad feeling is. And we have to go back.” He tightly gripped the piccolo and pulled out a goo bomb, rushing for the door with Eugene and Rapunzel right behind him.  
  
They threw the door open and Varian threw a goo bomb. The cries of surprise were, as always, satisfying.  
  
“Var!” Angry protested as the pink smoke cleared. “What kind of prank is this?!”  
  
“What is this?!” The woman struggled in the goo as the man did the same.  
  
Varian held out the piccolo. “You’re not her family! You’re the Daylight Thieves, using this place as your stronghold!”  
  
Angry paled, then looked furious. “You _lied_ to me!”  
  
“Ugh, figured us out, huh?” The woman asked with a smirk.  
  
“I _knew_ something wasn’t right about you.” Varian said coldly. “You didn’t look like you recognized her at _all_.”  
  
“How could you lie to a sweet little girl like that?!” Rapunzel cried.  
  
“Because we didn’t want them to go telling people about this place.” The woman said, trying to pull free of the goo. “It’s too nice a hideout to lose. Of course, we _really_ should’ve invited you all in for tea and poisoned you. An oversight.”  
  
“Var…let me loose.” Angry said furiously. “I’m going to make them _pay_.”  
  
“Kid, we—” Eugene started.  
  
“As you wish.” Varian pulled out the neutralizer and sprinkled it on the goo to let them all loose. Then he stepped back with Eugene and watched as Red and Angry released righteous fury with their impressive speed on the two thieves.  
  
“I don’t know why I was worried.” Eugene chuckled. “Oh, man, I love these girls!”  
  
“You should still be.” Varian said softly.  
  
The two thieves were easily beaten and bound in rope Varian tossed them from his bag when Angry demanded it. Then, once it was over, Angry walked over and sat by a window silently, ripping her fortune in half bitterly.  
  
“Oh…Angry…” Rapunzel said softly, walking over with Eugene to join her. Varian stayed back to watch the criminals with Red.  
  
“…You okay?” He asked softly.  
  
She looked down sadly and then looked over at her sister. Varian nodded, reaching out to take her hand in his gently.  
  
Rapunzel held Angry in a tight hug, both of them now knowing the pain of being lied to by people they thought they thought were their family. “I-I shoulda known better.” Angry said, slowly breaking the hug. “I don’t know why I believed that _stupid_ monkey.” She glared at Vigor, who was sitting by the door, but it faltered quickly. “Guess I just wanted to believe I had a family _so bad,_ that I fooled myself.”  
  
Eugene knelt down and picked up the pieces of the fortune that Angry had ripped in half. “’Follow the leaf to find your tree’.” He said thoughtfully, then smiled. “Hey, did you know that when I found Rapunzel and Varian, I was looking for a _crown_?” He looked at Rapunzel and smiled. “And when Rapunzel found _me_ , she was chasing lights in the sky.” He chuckled, smiling at her fondly and cupping her cheek. “That’s what _we_ thought would bring us happiness. That’s weird, right?” He looked back at Angry.  
  
“So?” Angry turned away from them. “Why are you telling me this?”  
  
“Well, because you thought finding your tree would bring you to your family.” Eugene explained. “But, who’s by your side right now when you’re feeling your lowest?”  
  
Varian and Red walked over to join them and Angry looked at Red with awe. “You have a family in Red.” Eugene went on.  
  
“And, trust me, she’s a good one.” Varian added, nudging the shy girl with a smile. “You don’t need blood relations to be family.”  
  
“And if the journey helps you realize that, then following the leaf helped you find your tree.” Eugene finished.  
  
Angry sniffled and then took off her necklace before walking over and putting it around Red’s neck, instead. “So I don’t forget who my family is.” She said softly, then hugged Red tightly. Red gasped in surprise and returned the hug gently.  
  
Varian smiled and took Rapunzel’s and Eugene’s hands and they gently gave his own hands a squeeze before they broke the hold slowly, reluctantly.  
  
“Now,” Eugene said as the girls ended their own hug. “You have something to return.”  
  
They looked over at Vigor.  
  
“Let’s return Fortuna’s belongings, first.” Varian suggested. “And turn in these thieves to the local authorities.”  
  
Eugene grinned. “Of course.”  
  
\--  
  
The caravan pulled up to the wagon of Vigor the Visionary and Red and Angry got out with Eugene, Rapunzel and Varian, Vigor riding on Eugene’s shoulders this time to his discomfort and Cassandra's, who held the reins, amusement.  
  
“Alright. Monkey off.” Eugene said, and Vigor jumped off him and onto a moping woman, who didn’t seem to have noticed they were there. She let out a squawk of alarm and then laughed happily.  
  
“Vigor!” She said, standing up.  
  
“We’re real sorry we took your monkey.” Angry told her.  
  
“Did he show you what you needed to find?” The woman asked.  
  
“Yeah, he did.” Angry smiled at Red.  
  
“Then…” She smiled widely. “That’ll be five silver pieces!”  
  
Eugene laughed. “That’s a good one.”  
  
The woman looked annoyed.  
  
“Oh, you’re very serious. Alright, you heard her girls.” Eugene looked to where Red and Angry were. “Looks like you’re gonna have to find some way to…wow. They’re fast.” He said, realizing they were gone. “Uh…hold on, let me—"  
  
“Hold up! Look, lady,” Hugo came out of the caravan and strode over to them. “Either you waive the fee, or we take the monkey back. Your choice.”  
  
“Hugo?” Varian looked at him.  
  
She looked uncomfortable, muttered “No charge.” and led Vigor back to the wagon.  
  
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Hugo said smugly.  
  
“Let’s go.” Varian took Hugo’s arm and pulled him back to the wagon. “You criminal.”  
  
“That’s me.” Hugo said with a grin.  
  
“So, Vigor made a believer out of you?” Rapunzel asked Eugene slyly.  
  
“Well, I wouldn’t go _that_ far.” Eugene said, looking back at the wagon.  
  
The monkey suddenly seemed more coherent and stared at them with an intense, unsettling gaze and let out a low croon.  
  
“…Weird.” Varian commented before shoving Hugo back into the caravan.  
  
“Whoof!” Hugo yelped as he fell in.  
  
“Yeah…” Eugene nodded, heading for the door with Rapunzel.  
  
“Let’s move on, people! And, Eugene, if you sneak off with Rapunzel without telling anyone again, I am tying you to the top of the caravan.” Cassandra warned him.  
  
“Yes, Your Frozen Highness.” Eugene jabbed as he shut the door and they set off again.  
  
“Those girls will be okay.” Varian said, leaning out a window with a smile.  
  
“I can’t wait to see them again.” Rapunzel nodded with a smile. “So…what’s next?”  
  
Varian left the window and pulled out Gothel’s map. “The Spire.”


	36. 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the Keeper of the Spire turns out to be difficult, Donella takes charge of the situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

“ _I got the wind in my hair  
And a fire within,  
‘Cause there’s something beginning.  
I got a mystery to solve and excitement to spare!_”  
  
Rapunzel sang as she brushed her hair with Donella’s, Cassandra’s and Pascal’s help.  
  
“ _That beautiful breeze blowing through,  
I’m ready to follow it who knows where.  
I’ll get there, I swear,  
With the wind in my hair!_”  
  
“Do you _have_ to sing this every morning when you wake up?” Donella asked as she and Cassandra braided her hair for her.  
  
“It gets me pumped for the day!” Rapunzel said eagerly.  
  
“ _Every_ morning?” Donella looked exasperated and Cassandra chuckled.  
  
“Well, she’s been doing it every morning up to now. I don’t think she’s going to stop any time soon.” She said as she calmly braided with all the practiced precision of a lady-in-waiting.  
  
“I bet the _boys_ don’t have to deal with this.” Donella muttered.  
  
\--  
  
“She’s singing again, isn’t she?” Hugo said into the pillow he’d pulled over his ears.  
  
“Maybe we should tell her that she’s being a _lovely_ rooster.” Lance said as he got out of bed.  
  
“Up with the sun, that’s my sister.” Varian said, yawning.  
  
“Well, at least it gives me plenty of time to do my beauty routine.” Eugene said, looking into a mirror as he applies different creams and lotions.  
  
“You don’t _need_ those.” Varian shook his head.  
  
“You tell me that every day and it’s nice of you but not true.” Eugene said as he continued.  
  
Varian shook his head and got up. “Well, since I’m up I may as well do some practice with the rocks.” He said as he got out clean clothes from his luggage.  
  
“Sounds like she’s done. Why don’t we just sleep longer?” Hugo asked.  
  
They heard the door open and close on the girls’ side and Varian sighed. “Too late. They’re getting breakfast started.”  
  
“Man…” Hugo sat up and combed his fingers through his hair before he hopped down off the bed and went to his luggage.  
  
They heard a knock at the door. “We’re up.” Varian assured them. “We’re getting ready for the day.”  
  
“Okay, good! I was about to wake you!” Rapunzel said cheerfully.  
  
“She already did.” Hugo grumbled.  
  
“Did she do this back at the castle?” Lance asked Varian.  
  
“Every day, without fail, since her hair grew out.” Varian sighed.   
  
“That explains why you’re so resigned to it.” Hugo remarked, going behind a curtain to change.  
  
“Mmhm.” Varian nodded. “You get used to it after a while.”  
  
“We’ve been out on the road for a few months now. When is ‘a while’?” Lance asked.  
  
Eugene laughed.  
  
They finished getting changed and then went out to join the women outside. “Good morning, beautiful!” Eugene said, walking over and kissing Rapunzel.  
  
“Yeah, beautiful. Beautiful hair, beautiful _singing.”_ Hugo said dryly.  
  
“Oh, you guys heard that?” She asked, blushing a bit.  
  
“Every morning!” Hugo said brightly. “It’s a _beautiful_ way to wake up at the crack of dawn, Princess!”  
  
Donella walked over and pulled him off to the side by his ear. “Ow, ow, ow, ow.” He whined.  
  
“I guess I was kind of loud, huh?” Rapunzel blushed.  
  
“Sundrop, if you were any louder, you’d wake the dead.” Adira said casually as she walked up to them.  
  
“Adira!” Lance said dreamily.  
  
“Figures you’d show up. We’re almost at the Spire.” Varian walked up to her. “Where do you keep going?”  
  


She rubbed his head. “I’ll tell you sometime, but not now. Yes, you are almost at the Spire. And, I must warn you, it is not a gentle journey up the cliff. And you will have to climb up on foot.”  
  
“So, leave the caravans below.” Varian nodded.  
  
Adira nodded. “How are the scroll translations coming along?”  
  
“It’s not a simple task.” Varian shook his head. “Donella, Hugo and I are trying to figure it out but Gothel didn’t give us much to work with.”  
  
“Well, I am sure you will figure it out.” She smiled encouragingly. “To get into the Spire to get the third piece, you need to talk to the Keeper of the Spire.”  
  
“The Keeper of the Spire…” Rapunzel said thoughtfully.  
  
“Yes.” Adira nodded. “Be on your guard, you may be tested for entry.”  
  
“Of course.” Rapunzel and Varian said in unison.  
  
She smiled and nodded.  
  
\--  
  
The Keeper lived in a little house at the base of the cliff, according to Adira before she set off again, and that was where Varian put black rocks around the Caravan to keep it safe before they approached the building.  
  
“Is this it? The Keeper’s place?” Eugene asked.  
  
“Fits the description.” Varian nodded.  
  
“Let’s find out.” Rapunzel said as they walked up to the door.  
  
“Stay together.” Cassandra said as they walked across a narrow walkway.  
  
“Well, we _are_ on a narrow, elevated road,” Eugene said sarcastically, “so, I’m not seeing too many other options.”  
  
Cassandra tensed up when she heard a crow cawing. “I don’t like it. It’s too quiet.” She looked at Varian. “Are you getting any…bad feelings?”  
  
“No.” Varian shook his head. “It’s okay, Cass.” He smiled and took her hand.  
  
“Donella, have you ever been here?” Hugo asked.  
  
“Hm…once. I came here with Ulla before. The Keeper turned us away.” Donella sighed.  
  
“Really? Why?” Hugo asked.  
  
They heard a roaring sound and Lance shrieked, “What’s that?!”  
  
“Something up on the cliff, apparently.” Varian remarked, stroking Ruddiger’s fur soothingly.  
  
“Hang in there, buddy.” Rapunzel said, stroking Pascal’s nose.  
  
“Can Hawk go check it out?” Lance asked.  
  
“No.” Donella shook her head.  
  
Rapunzel walked up to the doors and knocked on them, then slowly pulled them open. “Uhm…hello?” She asked nervously.  
  
Large moths flew out and Rapunzel yelped, falling back. Hawk charged at the moths and Ruddiger swiped at them aggressively when they got to close to Varian, both animals calming down when the bugs were gone.  
  
“Ah! Moths! Bugs! Agh!” Lance cried in alarm.  
  
Rapunzel got up, brushed her hair behind her ear, and walked forward. A brown smoke started to drift into view and a figure appeared in the doorway, covering their face with their sleeve.  
  
“…Who is that?” Donella frowned. Varian looked up at her.  
  
“H-Hi.” Rapunzel said awkwardly. “Uhm, my name is Rapunzel.”  
  
“Uhm, and I’m Lance.” Lance said nervously. Eugene shushed him.  
  
“And I am looking for the—” Rapunzel started.  
  
“Keeper of the Spire?!” The person said in a dramatic – or least some kind of attempt to be – fashion. She lowered her sleeve. “Look no further! I am the Keeper!” She threw her hand out, then coughed on the smoke.  
  
Donella laughed coldly and everyone jolted in response. “ _You_? You are _not_ the Keeper.” She strode forward, staring down the bespectacled redhead. “Where is the real one, imposter? The tall old man?”  
  
“I-I _am_ the real Keeper!” She insisted.  
  
“No. You are not. _You_ are a waste of our time.” Donella said coldly. “Where is the _real_ Keeper?”  
  
“I-I’m new!” She squeaked in alarm. “I’m his replacement!”  
  
“Donella.” Rapunzel placed her hand on the woman’s arm. “As long as we can get into the Spire, does it _matter_ if it’s the old one or not?”  
  
Donella stared the girl down and walked off with a “hmph” to stand next to Hugo again.  
  
“Sorry about her.” Rapunzel said, smiling awkwardly. “We need to get into the Spire.”  
  
“Well, _I_ am the Keeper of the Spire! But, _you_ can call me Calliope!” The girl said, having recovered from the scare.  
  
“Well, Calliope, we’re looking for something in particular.” Varian stepped forward. “Something called the Demanitus Scroll. Supposedly there’s a piece of it in there?” He held out a hand. “I’m Varian, this is Rapunzel. We’re the Sundrop and Moonstone and we need the scroll.”  
  
She looked like the names didn’t mean anything to her and Donella scoffed.  
  
“We’re wasting our time here.” Donella muttered.  
  
“Of course! Of course! Come in!” She beckoned them in the building, which was apparently some kind of museum. They started to look around and Rapunzel paused to look at a statuette of Zhan Tiri.  
  
“Yikes.” Varian said, standing next to her. “Still just as creepy.”  
  
Eugene noticed Donella speaking quietly to Hugo, who was silently listening and nodding in response. ‘Uh oh.’ He thought. ‘That can’t be good.’  
  
“As Keeper of the Spire, I have been entrusted wardship of the Spire’s artifacts.” Calliope said as they looked around. She noticed that Lance had removed something from its display and frowned before taking it and putting it back. “It is my _sworn_ duty to prevent these items from falling into the wrong hands, and to protect them from the outside world.”  
  
She paused by a purple orb. “Or, in some cases, protect the outside world from _them_.” She turned to the group. “So, I’m kinda’ prestigious.” She smirked.  
  
“Oh! Wow!” Rapunzel said, forcing an amazed tone as she and Varian turned to her. “That is impressive!”  
  
“So, can you help us get the scroll piece?” Varian asked impatiently.  
  
“Well, it’s in the Spire’s vault.” She told him.  
  


“And where is the Spire’s vault?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“ _Spy-err_.” She corrected.  
  
“Oh, get off your high horse and answer the damn question.” Hugo snapped.  
  
She looked at him. “This kind of thing—”  
  
“NOBODY CARES!” Hugo declared loudly, to her offended expression. “Where is it?!”  
  
“Wow.” Varian stifled a laugh.  
  
“It’s _spy-err_ —” She tried and Cassandra snapped and yanked her up by her robe collar.  
  
“DO YOU HAVE THE SCROLL OR NOT?!” She yelled.  
  
“Cass!” Rapunzel coaxed her into putting the girl down. “Please!”  
  
“No, I get it. Moms can be impatient.” Calliope said, dusting herself off and adjusting her glasses.  
  
“’Mom’?! I’m _four years older_ than—”  
  
“Cassandra.” Donella walked over to her. “That’s not important. Clearly, this person is a fraud.”  
  
“E-Excuse me?” Calliope looked up at the tall woman.  
  
“Yes, it has become obvious to me we have been led along by someone who clearly knows nothing about the Spire. A shyster posing as the Keeper.” She smirked coldly at her. “I doubt she could tell you where the vault is, and she’s stalling to try to make us give up.”  
  
“T-That information is in the library!” Calliope insisted.  
  
“You’re stalling again.” Hugo walked up behind her, tossing a glowing green ball up and down in his hand. Varian looked at the ball, his eyes widening a bit as he tried to remember which kind that was.  
  
“We’ll find it on our own.” Donella headed for the door. “We’re wasting our time here.”  
  
“Uh, but—”  
  
“Let’s _go_ , Rapunzel.” She said sternly.  
  
“But, we need the Keeper to—” Rapunzel started after her, the others following without hesitation.  
  
“She’s _not_ the Keeper. She’s a _fraud_ that is _wasting_ our _time_.” Donella insisted.  
  
“But, I think if we just—”  
  
“Ahh!” Calliope’s fading cry of alarm cut Rapunzel off and she looked over to see Calliope down on the ground and Hugo pulling a ring of keys from her robe.  
  
“Got the keys, let’s go.” He stood up and tossed the keys to Donella, who caught it with ease.  
  
“We got what we needed from her.” Donella smirked and walked out.  
  
“I told you,” Hugo said as he walked past the shocked group, “I steal what Donella _tells_ me to steal.”  
  
“Holy…you _are_ a thief…” Lance breathed.  
  
“Damn it, kid…” Eugene shook his head.   
  
“Well, that’s _one_ way to do it.” Cassandra said as she walked out.  
  
“…This feels _wrong_.” Rapunzel looked back at the girl.  
  
“Donella’s right.” Varian sighed. “She was stalling us.” He headed out after Donella and Hugo. “Come on, Rapunzel. We don’t want to take too long here. There’s still the maze to find before we go to the Dark Kingdom, after all. And I’m worried about Corona.”  
  
Rapunzel sighed and walked out with the others, closing the doors behind her.  
  
\--  
  
“I feel _terrible_ about us _leaving_ her there.” Rapunzel said as they started up the cliff.  
  
“She will be _fine_.” Donella assured her. “Unless you’d rather we tie her up and carry her with us?”  
  
“We have the keys, we don’t _need_ her.” Hugo added.  
  
“Varian, Eugene, this is wrong!” Rapunzel looked at them. “Cass! Lance, are you _really_ okay with this?!”  
  
“Frankly, Raps, she was getting on my nerves.” Cassandra sighed. “So, sorry, but I’m with them on this. We got the keys, we don’t need her.”  
  
“Waaaait!”  
  
“Hm, woke up sooner than expected.” Hugo looked over.  
  
Calliope was running up the trail after them. “Come back here! You can’t take the keys!”  
  
“Already did.” Donella jingled them tauntingly.  
  
“Come on, don’t do this to me!” She pleaded. “I’ll show you where the scroll is!”  
  
“Ah, see? All it took was a little bit of _forceful persuasion_ to get her to comply.” Donella laughed. “You may join us, but the attitude stays on the floor where we left you.”  
  
“Or we’ll knock you out again and leave you on the trail.” Hugo threatened.  
  
Rapunzel looked at Varian. “Are we _really_ letting them do this?”  
  
“Do _you_ want to try to talk them out of it?” Varian looked at her.  
  
Calliope swallowed nervously. “I-I have a m-map.”  
  
Donella walked over as the girl pulled out the map from under her robe. “If you attempt to stall us or lead us astray, you will be thrown down the cliff. Is that clear?”  
  
She nodded, looking terrified. Donella nodded and motioned for her to lead the way.  
  
“…No.” Rapunzel shook her head. “I don’t think I could.”  
  
“Is it just me, or is Cass looking at Donella with stars in her eyes?” Eugene asked them quietly.  
  
“She _does_ seem to admire her methods.” Lance said, looking a bit dreamy himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Donella has no patience for pretentious little brats.


	37. 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trek up to the Spire is long and treacherous, but thankfully not as annoying as it could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

As they continued up the cliff, Varian used black rocks to put up railings for really narrow pathways and replaced crumbling rocks with flat black ones that were stable. If Calliope had anything to say about it, she kept it to herself, terrified into silence by the older woman and her teenage cohort.  
  
“How do you get people to just _listen_ like that? I mean, the _power_ you had when speaking…” Cass said as she walked alongside Donella.  
  
“A lot of self-control.” Donella chuckled. “Calm anger is the most dangerous of all. But, I think Varian has shown you that enough times.” She looked at Varian with a smile. “Like with the bird couple, for instance.”  
  
Varian nodded, looking to the side as he thought about what they had said. ‘Followers of Demanitus and Zhan Tiri had to choose sides and those that didn’t were assumed to have.’ He thought. ‘I’ve only met Sugracha the Eternal, but how many were sealed away in the Demanitus Chamber?’  
  
Ruddiger patted his cheek to bring him back to the present and he smiled and stroked his fur fondly.  
  
“Donella, I’m…concerned about your willingness to hurt her.” Rapunzel said anxiously.  
  
“She hasn’t been hurt.” Donella sighed heavily. “We have a _goal_ , Rapunzel. And while _some_ distractions are…acceptable, _this_ little shyster was not. Whether she is a student of the Keeper or just a fraud, she is _not_ who she claims to be. And I will _not_ put up with her stalling when, every day, the Moonstone spreads her power, her _black rocks_ , over the Seven Kingdoms.”  
  
Rapunzel bowed her head. “…I…I know. I know the danger.”  
  
“Then, you _know_ that we cannot waste time with pretention.” She said sternly.  
  
Rapunzel went quiet after that and let Donella take the lead. After all, every else seemed content to. Varian took her hand soothingly and she gave a shaky smile. Varian was just as bothered as she was, she realized, but he was focused on their main goal and Calliope was making things take longer than they needed to.  
  
They heard the roaring from up above again and Eugene looked up. “What _is_ that?”  
  
Calliope started to speak but stopped herself with a nervous glance at Donella. Donella gave her a “go on” gesture and she cleared her throat. “T-That’s the Kirlok. It’s…it’s the Protector of the Spy-err.”  
  
“Should be easy to get past, especially with Varian’s goo bombs.” Hugo said thoughtfully. “Then we can knock it out and go into the Spire easy-peasy.”  
  
“ _Spy_ —”  
  
“And now you’ve lost your speaking privileges.” Donella said, cutting her off. Calliope looked down sadly.  
  
Rapunzel clenched her fists but didn’t say anything. She would…just have to talk to Donella about this later.  
  
\--  
  
“I’m building stairs to get us back down.” Varian decided after they’d been walking a while. “I am _not_ going through this whole thing in reverse.”  
  
Calliope stopped short, looking at the map silently. Donella sighed. “Speak.”  
  
“…I made a wrong turn.” She said sheepishly.  
  
They all groaned. “Okay. That’s it.” Varian held out his hand and black rocks appeared and started to form into stairs leading up the cliff. “I’m not putting up with this anymore. We just need to go _up_ , right? So, we go up!”  
  
She rolled up the map, looking embarrassed. They hear roaring behind them and turned to see a beast coming up to them.  
  
“…I guess that’s the Kirlok.” Eugene said as Lance let out a scream of terror.  
“Take care of it!” Varian said, not looking away from his task,  
  
“Alright!” Cassandra pulled out her black-rock sword as everyone but Varian and Calliope ran to fight the beast.  
  
Calliope looked terrified, but Varian paid it no mind as he continued to build the stairs, his eyes and hair gently glowing. Behind him, the battle raged on. Varian moved his hand back when he sensed the black rocks collide with something way far above them.  
  
“Back up!” He told the fighters, and they all quickly obeyed, black rocks coming out of the ground to block the beast from reaching them. “Let’s get going.” He turned to Calliope. “After you, Keeper.”  
  
She reached up and nervously gripped the railing over his stairs before starting up. Varian followed her and the others right behind. “Nice work with the rocks!” Eugene praised.  
  
Varian pulled out a goo-bomb and threw it at the beast, trapping it in goo so it didn’t try to climb up the side after them. “We’ve wasted enough time here.” He said, looking ahead. “Donella’s right. The Moonstone is waiting, and we still have one more scroll piece to find after this before we get to her.”  
  
Calliope glanced back at them nervously. “So…uh…you’re going on quite the quest, huh?”  
  
“Yeah. And, don’t worry. Once we have what we need, you probably won’t ever see us again.” Varian assured her.  
  
They reached the top and she walked up to the door. “Uhm…I need the keys.”  
  
Donella walked over and dropped it onto the ground in front of her. Calliope knelt to pick it up and started to furtively try key after key. “There’s just…so many.” She said shakily.  
  
“Just find it.” Donella said coolly.  
  
Hugo stood nearby her, fingering his dagger intimidatingly. Rapunzel and the others stood back, letting the two criminals do their…thing.  
  
The Kirlok roared from down below and Lance shivered. “That goo will hold, right?”  
  
“I’ve never used one on something that big before.” Varian admitted, then held out a hand to make black rocks rise up along the cliff’s edge as a big, scary, black fence. “If it breaks free somehow, it’ll have to take the stairs. It’s so big, though, it’ll get stuck on them.”  
  
“G-Got it!” Calliope said fearfully, opening the door.  
  
“Finally.” Varian walked over with the others as they stepped inside. “Okay, Calliope. Where’s the Demanitus Scroll?”  
  
“It’s…” She faltered, looking up at the tall central pillars, surrounded by a spiral staircase and covered in carefully-placed artifacts, each on their own shelves going up further than they could see from down here.  
  
“Calliope?” Rapunzel asked, then followed her as Calliope started up the stairs.  
  
“It’s here.” Calliope said, stopping in front of a case with a purple scroll.  
  
Rapunzel smiled as Calliope took it out and handed it to her. “Thank you, Calliope. I’m sorry my…uhm, I’m sorry Donella was so harsh on you.”  
  
“No, no. I…I _was_ stalling.” She admitted. “The truth is, I’m the Keeper’s apprentice. And I…when you showed up, I wasn’t sure what to do. If I should…help you or not. Of course, I know the legend of the Sundrop and Moonstone. And seeing you _together_ was…well…it was weird. All the legends say that you… _aren’t_ supposed to connect. Or…or something bad will happen.”  
  
“Well, he’s actually only a piece. The _real_ Moonstone is in the Dark Kingdom, and we’re collecting the Demanitus Scroll pieces to fight it.” Rapunzel said as they went down the steps together. “And, thanks to you, we have another one of the pieces. You helped us find it. Thank you, Calliope.”  
  
“Well, well.” A voice said, and Calliope looked up in surprise while everyone else looked over in alarm as an old man stepped out of the shadows.  
  
Donella smiled. “ _That_ is the Keeper.” She told them as the man approached.  
  
The old man smiled fondly at Calliope, then looked at them all one by one. “I have been monitoring your progress. While you turned out to be ultimately here for good, it was wise of Calliope to not instantly trust you. Still, you are here now.” He looked at Rapunzel and Varian. “The Sundrop and the Moonstone Sliver. And…” He raised his gaze. “Donella of Saporia. I see you have found your way here again.”  
  
“Excuse—” Eugene started.  
  
“I come accompanying the Sundrop and Moonstone Sliver on their quest. They seek to defeat the Moonstone, and I seek to rescue a friend the Moonstone took from me.” Donella said calmly. “We are only here for the scroll, nothing more.”  
  
“Hm. Better than last time.” He turned to Calliope. “I am pleased that you have found your way here, Calliope.”  
  
“You…you were up here? The whole time? You…you disappeared months ago!” She cried.  
  
“I had to know if you would be up to the job.” The Keeper smiled and knelt before her, opening his arms. Calliope ran forward and threw her arms around him. “Did you miss me, Calliope?”  
  
“Of course I did!” She cried.  
  
He smiled and held her a bit tighter, then set her down. “Now that you have found your way here, Calliope, I feel that you are ready to be the Keeper of the Spire.”  
  
“Really?” She sniffled. “Even though I led these people here?”  
  
“Of course. It matters not how you got here, but that you did. Do you know why there were so many keys?” He asked.  
  
Her brow furrowed. “Uhm…”  
  
“Because the true key would only reveal itself when you were ready. And you _are_ ready, Calliope. You have been for a while. You simply needed to walk through the doors to make it official.” The Keeper explained, then gave her an affectionate noogie. “Congratulations!”  
  
“But, I still don’t understand.” She said, her brow furrowed. “I let these people get in, I…I succumbed to their brutality, I—”  
  
“But you went after them when they knocked you out and stole the keys.” The Keeper reminded her. “You could have just stayed below, but you were determined to get the keys back. And it is that fighting spirit in you that inspired me to choose you as my apprentice. And now, you are the Keeper of the Spire.”  
  
He stood up. “Besides, I too suffered under your brutality once, Donella.” He said sternly.  
  
She shrugged. “Ulla let you go, and then you called your pet on us. I remember.”  
  
“His pet?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“The Kirlok.” Donella headed for the door. “We got what we came for, let’s go.”  
  
“Wait, wait, WAIT!” Eugene ran over to her. “WHEN were you going to tell us you were SAPORIAN?!”  
  
“Oh, probably when you got it out of me in a Q&A session like Varian, Cassandra, Adira and Rapunzel did.” She said boredly.  
  
  
“You—what—we are going to be _talking_ about this!” He declared. “Later! At the caravan!”  
  
The Keeper turned to Calliope. “And speaking of the Kirlok.” He gestured to the side as a baby animal came out. “ _This_ one will be _yours_ , Calliope.”  
  
  
Rapunzel and Varian made adoring noises and Calliope gasped walking over to the creature. “Mine?” She said in awe as it climbed up onto her and sat on her head.  
  
“Do keep him away from the furniture.” The Keeper advised.  
  
\--  
  
“Well, uhm, this was fun.” Calliope said as Varian made stairs to take them back down to the bottom of the cliff. The adult Kirlok had been set free and the other stairs and black rocks removed and the old Keeper was standing nearby with the beast.  
  
“I am _really_ sorry about Donella.” Rapunzel said softly.  
  
“No, it…it’s fine. Like I said, I _was_ stalling.” She took Rapunzel’s hands. “But…you showed me kindness through all that, and it gave me strength to keep from crying. Thank you, Rapunzel.”  
  
Rapunzel smiled and hugged her. “I think you’re going to be a _great_ Keeper.”  
  
“Stairs are done! Let’s hit the road!” Cassandra called.  
  
“Alright!” Rapunzel turned to go. “Let’s go!”  
  
“Oh, okay then! Goodbye!” Calliope waved as they went down the stairs. “And good luck with the scroll!”  
  
Eugene was tense on the way down, and Rapunzel knew that this wasn’t over yet. The whole mess with Andrew had shaken him up, and now they were finding out that a Saporian was in their midst. Rapunzel knew she could trust her, but Eugene…well, he wasn’t so trusting.  
  
\--  
  
That night, they sat around the fire outside their caravan. Rapunzel handed Varian the scroll piece and he sat next to her so they could unrolled it together, the others leaning in.  
  
“It’s…kind of small.” Eugene commented as they opened it.   
  
The piece featured a side picture of a guy in a hood, and more writings. Varian frowned. “Well…that’s more questions than answers.”  
  
“A guy in a hood? We dealt with that for a guy in a hood?!” Eugene asked.  
  
“Who do you think he is?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“I’m…not sure.” Rapunzel said. “Donella?” She looked over at where Donella and Hugo were preparing food.  
  
She looked up at them. “I suspect we will find out sometime along this journey. Perhaps it is Demanitus; it is his scroll, after all.”  
  
Eugene pursed his lips. “Right.” He stood up. “Donella, we need to talk.”  
  
“We do.” She handed the cooking off to Hugo to work on. “You want answers.”  
  
“Yeah.” He frowned. “If you’re Saporian, why are you here with us?”  
  
“I was called by Quirin to help, so I came to help.” She looked into the fire. “Ulla, Varian’s mother, and myself were born as part of the Separatists of Saporia. As in, we were among the descendants of the Saporians that escaped the massacre that followed that terrible battle, where General Shampanier was taken as a prisoner of war.” She said grimly, the firelight flickering on her face. “You know it differently, of course. A love story, with a festival to celebrate it. Darkness in the Sun Kingdom; carefully concealed by light.”  
  
She picked up a stick and tossed it into the fire. “Twenty-four years ago, Ulla and I decided to journey to Corona and try to make a difference in a positive, non-destructive way. She had so many ideas, but it unfortunately put us on the King’s radar. Twenty-four years ago, Fredric was still a Prince, soon to be King. Twenty-four years ago, a knight from the Dark Kingdom found his way to Corona and rescued Ulla when she was about to be arrested for…alchemy.”  
  
“What?” Eugene frowned.  
  
“Yes.” She nodded. “Alchemy used to be illegal, because it was a hallmark of Saporia. Quirin was friends with Fredric and, when Fredric took the throne, he removed that law, as well as stopping the hunts for Saporians. Still, we hid our heritage. There was little love for Saporia, due to the actions of the Separatists. Then, around…oh, 16 years ago, Ulla got married to Quirin. I moved out, and started to travel the world. I left her to her happy life, and I avoided Saporia and Corona entirely. But, then I got a letter from Ulla two years after. She needed help; her baby was glowing.” She looked at Varian. “You know what happened from there. I returned half a year later with only accessories and a book to prove Ulla ever was with me. In shame, I fled the Kingdom again, and met Hugo eight years after.”  
  
She pursed her lips. “Saporia tried to call me back many times. I ignored their summons. The only connection I had to them anymore was my alchemy. I devoted my time to looking into anything that could…that could free Ulla from the Eternal Library. To…restore her humanity. _Any_ magical artifact, I sought it out, with Hugo as my best agent.”  
  
“I’m good at my job.” Hugo grinned.  
  
“We noticed.” Cassandra rolled her eyes.  
  
“When I learned Prince Andrew—”  
  
“Prince?” Eugene cut in.  
  
“—had come in and caused trouble, I decided not to tell you about my heritage. And yet, here we are.” She sighed. “I hold no love for Corona, but if the choice came down to Varian or Andrew, I would choose Varian in a heartbeat and let the axe fall on my throat. Traitors don’t live in Saporia.” She said firmly, a grim expression on her face.  
  
Lance let out a low whistle. “…Wow. What a story, huh?”  
  
Eugene pursed his lips. “Did you mean it? That you would turn on Andrew?”  
  
She nodded. “In a heartbeat.”  
  
He relaxed a bit. “Okay. I guess…I can trust you, then. Just, uh…don’t go being scary like that again, got it? Because, holy crap, that was scary.”  
  
She shrugged. “Got results, no one actually got hurt.”  
  
“Hey, how many times do I turn this again?” Hugo asked.  
  
Donella went to help him with cooking again.  
  
Varian smiled fondly to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Donella has just made a grim promise. Will she keep it?


	38. 38

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While out on the sea, the groups gets washed up on a mysterious island after a storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

With her heritage revealed, Donella felt completely at-ease showing them her inventions that she’d been mostly concealing. And, when their trip took them to sea, she happily worked with Varian and Hugo to make their caravan into a sturdy boat.  
  
Now they were on the sea, with Donella taking the wheel while Cass kept watch with the telescope and the others wandered about.  
  
“I’ve never been on the sea before.” Varian admitted. “Not this far out from Corona, at least.”  
  
“Yeah?” Hugo leaned against the railing. “I’ve been a few times, with Donella.”  
  
“So…did you know?” Varian asked.  
  
“About her Saporian thing?” Hugo guessed. “Nope. But, it doesn’t really change a thing, for me. She’ll always be Donella, who saved me and gave me a reason to live.”  
  
“Hey, Varian, Hugo, hold still for a bit.” Rapunzel said, sitting with her sketchbook.  
  
“She’s drawing us.” Varian grinned.  
  
Owl swooped by with Hawk, the two of them having grown close since Owl rejoined them a couple days before. Even Ruddiger and Pascal had grown comfortable with the bird of prey.  
  
“You know, I gotta admit,” Eugene said, leaning against the wall of the caravan. “When I saw the black rock trail was leading us across the water, I had my doubts about converting the caravan into a boat.”  
  
Varian looked up at the towering black rocks as they passed by them. These had to be the biggest black rocks he’d _ever_ seen.  
  
“Varian, stop moving.” Rapunzel giggled.  
  
Varian’s brow furrowed. “Eugene? That’s not good, is it?” He pointed to darkened clouds forming overhead.  
  
Before Eugene could answer, lightning struck one of the towering rocks and rain begin to fall. Varian held out a hand and black rocks started to form from the towering ones to make a shelter for them as they passed through, but it didn’t do much for the wild waves around them.  
  
“Get inside!” Donella called to them. “Everyone, get inside!”  
  
They left the railings and went inside and she held on for dear life as they were rocked to and fro. Varian stumbled a bit and, when the boat lurched, he let out a yelp, tossed to the side.  
  
“Varian!” Rapunzel cried.  
  
“Stripes!” Hugo grabbed his hands. “Don’t let go of me!” He held him close as Cassandra climbed down.  
  
The boat left the shelter Varian had made and lightning struck another black rock nearby. Varian yelped and then there was another lurch of the water before he and Hugo went overboard.  
  
“NO!” Cassandra ran to the side.  
  
“Cass!” Eugene ran to her. “Cass, no, you’ll _drown_ if you go out there!”  
  
“ _Varian_ is going to drown! And _Hugo_!” Cassandra cried.  
  
“The _Moonstone_ won’t let that happen!” Eugene reminded her. “And there’s _no_ _way_ you’ll find them if you _do_ go!”  
  
“No…” Cassandra gripped the railing tightly, then turned and clung to Eugene. “No…”  
  
\--  
  
 _Water, lift and flow.  
Let me be your guide.  
Rise from where you lay.  
Let the moon pull the tide.  
  
_Gothel’s voice…?  
No…it was the Moon, using Gothel’s voice.   
Singing.  
 _  
Break from gravity.  
_ _Erode where you collide.  
Fly where I design.  
Let the moon pull the tide.  
Moon pull the tide.  
  
_Varian’s eyes burst open and he gasped, looking around. Hugo was drifting nearby and he kicked to swim to him. Something didn’t seem right, though. He looked behind him and gasped. Where his legs were, he was looking at a fish tail, covered in glowing scales. His hair and eyes were glowing, too, and he decided to worry about it later and swam to Hugo to pull him close.  
  
“Hugo?” He said anxiously, then wondered how he was able to breathe.  
  
Worry about it later.  
  
He held him close and swam towards the surface, holding him like his life depended on it. When he broke the surface with a sharp gasp, the sun was shining overhead.  
  
“Where…the storm?” He asked the air, then spotted an island and swam towards it, still holding Hugo like his life depended on it.   
  
He reached land and got him safely on it. “Okay…okay…uhm…mouth to mouth…Eugene taught me before we set off…granted, it was just words, but I think…” He started to shove down on Hugo’s chest three times, then leaned in and breathed into his mouth before repeating the motion over and over.  
  
“Come on…” He whimpered. “Work…” He sobbed a bit. “I need help…Moonstone… _please_ …” There was no response and he clutched at Hugo’s shirt tightly. “ _Mother…_ ” He pleaded through his teeth, feeling ill.  
  
Black rocks came out of the sand around him and he was joined by the form of Gothel once more. “ _Whatever_ would you do without me?” She hummed, kneeling next to him. She moved a hand over Hugo’s mouth. “Listen closely, Sliver.”  
  
He nodded and listened as she started to sing again.  
  
“ _Water, lift and flow.  
Let me be your guide.  
Rise from where you lay.  
Let the moon pull the tide.  
  
Break from gravity.  
Erode where you collide.  
Fly where I design.  
Let the moon pull the tide.  
Moon pull the tide._”  
  
She turned her wrist and then made a pulling motion and Varian watched in awe as water left Hugo’s mouth and the teen started to cough and moan in pain.  
  
“Mnn…where am I?” Hugo murmured.  
  
“Hugo!” Varian cried, throwing his arms around him happily.  
  
“Stripes…where’s your legs?” Hugo asked.  
  
Varian blinked and looked down. Oh, right, he almost forgot about that. He pushed himself further out of the water and gasped as the fin disappeared, revealing his legs clothed in pants and boots again, as if it never happened. “…What?”  
  
“Try to stay alive.” The Moonstone said, patting his head before she walked off and then sank into the ground with the black rocks around them.  
  
“…That was weird.” Hugo said, sitting up.  
  
“She saved us.” Varian offered him a hand up and he took it, both of them standing up. “Come on. Let’s see if we can find the others.”  
  
\--  
  
“Varian!” Rapunzel called as she walked around. “Varian!”  
  
“I’m sure he’s alive. And Hugo, too! The Moonstone wouldn’t just let them die!” Eugene said nervously.  
  
“We seem to have strayed from the black rock path.” Donella said with a frown.  
  
“Varian! Hugo!” Cassandra called anxiously.  
  
Ruddiger ran to and fro on the beach, Pascal hanging on for the ride. Hawk and Owl were flying overhead, searching for any sign of the teens.  
  
“Kids!” Lance called.  
  
“HEY!”  
  
They gasped and turned to see Varian and Hugo running up to them, Varian waving as they ran. Rapunzel, Eugene and Cassandra ran over to them and pulled them both into tight hugs, with Donella and Lance catching up.  
  
“Varian, I thought I LOST you!” Rapunzel cried.  
  
“You scared us, kid!” Eugene said, holding him tightly.  
  
“You’re okay! You’re okay!” Cassandra sobbed with relief.  
  
“Yeah…yeah, the…the Moonstone saved us.” Varian nodded, laughing a bit when Ruddiger and Pascal joined them and climbed onto him to start patting him worriedly. “So, uh…where are we?”  
  
“Tirapai Island, an agricultural port known for the bountiful fruit.” Lance said in a dramatic way, complete with gestures. “The waning of the moon sharpens the sweetness of the crop, making the new moon an optimal time to harvest.” He walked away a bit. “A cargo ferry arrives to bring the island’s fruit to the mainland each new moon.”  
  
“ _How_ do you _possibly_ know all that?” Eugene asked.  
  
“I know things.” Lance stated.  
  
“It’s on that plaque.” Donella said, pointing to a plaque nearby.  
  
“Oh, right.” Eugene nodded. “A plaque, of course.”  
  
“Okay, so either we fix our damaged caravan-ship or wait to catch the ferry at the next new moon.” Rapunzel said, then looked at Varian as he went to the wreckage.  
  
“…Thank goodness I left mom’s back in Old Corona…” Varian said grimly. “My alchemy stuff was in there.”  
  
“Oh, we saved your bag!” Rapunzel brought him his alchemy bag. “It still has the travel kit, I think.”  
  
“It’s salvageable.” Donella frowned. “Getting materials may be tricky, though.”  
  
“Maybe we should just see what we can salvage from It and take the cargo ferry.” Eugene suggested.  
  
“And that’ll be, what, in weeks? Months? _Years_?!” Cassandra snapped, panic clearly setting in.  
  
“A new moon occurs every month and we are already halfway through this one.” Donella said calmly. “We won’t have long to wait.”  
  
“How are you so calm about being _stranded on an island_?” Cassandra asked her.  
  
“Well, for one thing, we aren’t stranded. We know when help is coming.” Donella reminded her. “Secondly, panicking never does anyone any good. Remain calm and things will be easier.”  
  
Cassandra nodded, listening to her intently.  
  
“So…if we’re going to be living here for a while, we’re going to need to make shelter.” Rapunzel pointed out.  
  
Varian held out a hand and black rocks formed out of the ground and into a shelter just like in the Forest of No Return. “Done.”  
  
“Can we get separate rooms? And windows?” Eugene asked eagerly.  
  
“Okay.” Varian walked into the shelter and started to make adjustments, pausing to get nuzzles from Maximus and Fidella on the way.  
  
“Black rocks are _terrifying_ when the Moonstone uses them, but so _great_ when Varian does.” Lance decided.  
  
Hugo cleared his throat. “Uhm, Donella. Sorry about…getting tossed overbo—uh?!” He jolted when she pulled him into a hug.  
  
“I am relieved you are safe, Hugo.” She smiled and then walked off to join Varian.  
  
“…Princess, what did you do to my mom-boss?” Hugo asked, looking at her, then he gasped as Hawk came down and raised his arm to let him land on his gauntlet. “Hi, Hawk. Did you miss me, too?”  
  
Rapunzel giggled.  
  
\--  
  
Varian, with everyone else chipping in, had managed to build a whole house with a fireplace and chimney and windows and separate rooms and even a kitchen and lounge area. He worked with Rapunzel to thread black rocks through repurposed sail pieces for door-curtains and to cover the windows for privacy.  
  
Now he was working on making indestructible chests, with Donella and Hugo assisting him on the hinges part, for their belongings.  
  
“I’m gonna be kind of sad when we have to take this thing down when the ferry arrives.” Lance admitted as helped Eugene, Cassandra and Rapunzel pad the beds and couches with various foliage from around the area. Pascal and Ruddiger came in with pretty shells to decorate the place with some color. Hawk sat on top of the building, watching for any danger.  
  
“Why do we have to?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“Don’t know about you, but the Moonstone might not be so forgiving about someone other than me and my friends using it.” Varian said as he carefully created holes for the screws Donella was putting in for the hinges. “We should’ve done this before we left.”  
  
“We didn’t think about it.” Rapunzel sighed.  
  
“Anyways, if anyone else uses it, she might crush them in it.” Varian said grimly. “So…no, we can’t leave it here.”  
  
“…Dang.” Eugene said, cringing.  
  
Varian nodded, then batted at his glowing hair in annoyance. “I wish I could shut this off…”  
  
“Well, it’s a warning signal for if there’s something dangerous or magical, at least.” Hugo remarked. “Hey, why didn’t it glow for the Kirlok?”  
  
“Because the Kirlok is either not actually that dangerous, or it’s not magical. Or maybe this thing is just broken.” Varian huffed and rolled his eyes. “I don’t _know_ , really. It’s been glowing since I woke up under the water with a fishtail instead of legs.”  
  
“I’m sorry, come again?” Eugene looked at him.  
  
“I had a fish tail instead of legs for a bit. Really weird, but it allowed me to breathe underwater and save Hugo.” Varian shrugged. “Never happened before.”  
  
“You turned into a goddamn _mermaid_?” Lance asked in disbelief.  
  
“Or, a Mer-boy, or whatever.” Eugene helpfully corrected him.  
  
“I don’t know. It’s never happened before.” Varian frowned. “What’s a mermaid?”  
  
Hugo chuckled. “Aww, tower-boy didn’t learn about mermaids?”  
  
Varian looked annoyed. “I will hurt you.”  
  
“No, you won’t.” Hugo teased.  
  
Varian lightly nudged him to the side harmlessly with a flat black rock and Hugo laughed, watching as it sank back into the floor.  
  
“They’re basically fish people that live in the ocean.” Donella said calmly. “Upper half is human, lower half is all fish.”  
  
“Huh.” Varian nodded. “That sounds about right.”  
  
“Well, the moon has a lot to do with water.” Hugo reasoned. “I bet you could control it if you wanted to!”  
  
Varian jolted a bit. “…She…taught me the incantation for that. She used it on you, to remove the water that was drowning you, after mouth-to-mouth failed.”  
  
Hugo blinked then blushed. “You…you kissed me?”  
  
“Mouth-to-mouth!” Varian said, growing flustered.  
  
“Anyways, he can control water. Great!” Eugene cut into the conversation. “So, we have shelter, we have boxes to keep our stuff in, now we need to find food.”  
  
“Into the jungle, then.” Donella suggested.   
  
“Or we could just go fishing.” Lance suggested.  
  
“Come on, don't be scared of a little jungle.” Eugene chuckled.  
  
“Eugene! Jungles have _big spiders_!” Lance reminded him.  
  
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” Eugene said as they left the shelter.  
  
“Someone needs to stay here and guard the camp.” Cassandra reminded them.  
  
“Against what?” Varian chuckled. “We’re the only ones here. Besides…” He held out a hand and a black rock fence rose up around the building. “We can just do that.”  
  
“Come on, guys!” Rapunzel said encouragingly. “Let’s go explore the island! This will be fun!”  
  
“Yippee.” Hugo said in a deadpan voice.  
  
Varian nudged him with a grin. “Come on, where’s your sense of adventure?”  
  
“After the Forest of No Return, I think I got sick of being stuck in forests and jungles.” Hugo shook his head as they walked in with the others.  
  
A small figure watched them from the bushes. “Ohh…Frienfloofer…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No need for a shelter-building contest when they can just make one out of black rocks!
> 
> ((A/N: Okay, so, I have actually been procrastinating on this because I DO NOT like the Lorbs and also I've been distracted with my "Day of the Animals" fic. and now that I've started on the sequel of that, I thought it was time I started updating this one again. As you can guess, there will be some significant differences from canon. And also those Lorbs better watch out for Varian's temper.))


	39. 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Turns out, the island isn't uninhabited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

“You know,” Rapunzel said as she examined some of the flora around. “I could probably make some really good clothes with these!” She made Pascal a grass skirt and squealed. “So cute!”  
  
“Uh, sure.” Varian said, distracted by his still-glowing hair.   
  
“Do you guys all want new clothes, too?” She asked as she started to gather supplies.  
  
“Whatever you make, Sunshine, I’m sure I’ll love it.” Eugene assured her. “As long as it’s not a grass skirt.”  
  
Cassandra laughed. “No, please, make him a grass skirt. It’ll be funny.”  
  
“Nothing wrong with grass skirts.” Lance said, making one for himself and putting it on to dance a bit. Varian and Rapunzel laughed.  
  
“I’m content with my current outfit.” Donella assured Rapunzel.  
  
“Me too.” Hugo nodded.  
  
“Aw, you too, Hugo?” Rapunzel pouted. “But, look around at all this green! It’s totally your color! Let me make you something!”  
  
“I’m fine.” He said, shaking his head. “I prefer to match with Donella.”  
  
“Aww, that’s so cute!” Rapunzel gasped. “Varian! WE should match, too!”  
  
Varian laughed. “What?”  
  
“Come on, I’ll make you an outfit!” She said excitedly, heading back to the house. Varian followed her, the others shrugging before heading after.  
  
There was a rustling in the bushes, and a faint pitter-patter of tiny feet.  
  
“Wait.” Varian stopped short and looked around. The others all stopped as well, going to their various weapons. “...Looks like it’s gone.”  
  
“What is it?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“I heard something following us. Something…” His eyes narrowed as he heard it again. He held out a hand and summoned black rocks and they heard a tiny cry of terror before he pushed aside the foliage to reveal…a tiny leaf person in his black rock cage?  
  
“Don’t hurt me, Frienfloofer!” The little leaf person pleaded.  
  
“Aww!” Rapunzel knelt down with Varian to look at it closer. “You are _adorable_!”  
  
“Why were you following us?” Varian asked.  
  
“Y-You’re on our island!” The leaf person cried.  
  
“And we’ll be leaving when the ferry arrives.” Varian said, rolling his eyes, then released the creature from the cage, the black rocks retracting into the ground.  
  
The creature backed up from him, fear in its little eyes, and then disappeared into the foliage.  
  
“Should we go after it?” Hugo asked, watching it go.  
  
“No, let’s not.” Donella shook her head. “The last thing we want is to be involved with some drama with the locals. I only hope you scared the creature off, Varian.”  
  
“Yeah, uh, I thought this place was uninhabited.” Lance chuckled nervously.  
  
“It’s okay, Lance.” Varian chuckled. “I’ll keep the little leaf people—”  
  
“—and spiders—”  
  
“—and spiders from invading your room while we sleep.”  
  
“We haven’t even _seen_ any spiders.” Eugene said as Pascal and Ruddiger terrorized some dragonflies. “Relax, Lance. You can’t be constantly on-edge the entire time we’re stuck here.”  
  
“Why can’t we use black rocks to leave sooner?” Lance asked. “Build a boat out of them?”  
  
“Because black rocks sink like, well, rocks. And I’m not going to build a path as we walk from the island, because that would get e _xhausting_.” Varian made a face.  
  
“Besides, we already have a plan. Now, let’s go back and salvage some cloth so I can make us all some proper island outfits!” Rapunzel said cheerfully as she and Varian stood up.  
  
“You know what would make this island better?” Lance sighed dreamily. “Adira.”  
  
“No, honestly, she’d be _insufferable_ here.” Cassandra made a face.  
  
“Only if she’s been here before, with bronchitis.” Varian chuckled.   
  
“I wonder if she’s thinking of me?” Lance asked with a sigh.  
  
Cassandra rolled her eyes. “Let’s just go back. I think we found enough food.” She looked at Maximus and Fidella, who were carrying food they’d collected.  
  
“Ruddiger!” Varian called. “Pascal!”  
  
They both stopped playing and hurried over to climb up onto Varian’s and Rapunzel’s shoulders.  
  
“We better not explore the jungle too much, don’t want to upset the locals. You’d think the plaque would have warned us about the little leaf people.” Rapunzel said as they headed back through to return to their house.  
  
They stepped out onto the beach and Varian lowered the fence to let them all enter before they unloaded the food from the horses’ backs and started to put them into an empty chest.  
  
“You know…I’m kind of curious about the leaf people.” Hugo admitted. “Who knows what kind of cool stuff they have to st—ah, look at!”  
  
“Ahhh, there’s your motive.” Varian smirked a bit. “I thought you only stole what Donella told you to steal?”  
  
Hugo blushed, glancing away. “Sometimes, I take a little bit here and there…” He admitted.  
  
“And you’re okay with this?” Eugene looked at Donella.  
  
“As long as I don’t have to bust him out of prison.” Donella shrugged. “He’s always a mess after being in chains.”  
  
“I know the feeling.” Eugene shuddered. “You just… _feel_ them on you for the next…week or so. Cold and biting against your skin.”  
  
“Oh man, don’t remind me.” Lance cringed.  
  
“I love it when we get reminded that our entire group consists of you, me, Varian, and a bunch of criminals.” Cassandra smirked at Rapunzel.  
  
“Don’t forgot about Maximus, Fidella, Ruddiger, Pascal and Owl! Oh, and Hawk. Can’t forget Hawk. Wait, does Hawk do crime?” Rapunzel looked at Donella.  
  
“Hawk usually keeps a look out for trouble and sends messages.” Donella assured her. “But, no, he doesn’t normally do the stealing for me. That’s what I have Hugo for.”  
  
“Hawk is good for lookout, but he has a problem of not having hands.” Hugo waved his hands pointedly.  
  
“I _do_ want to find out about their culture, though.” Rapunzel said, walking over to start working on the new outfits with the supplies she grabbed and cloth salvaged from the caravan-boat.  
  
“I still think we can just rebuild the caravan-boat and leave. I mean, Varian can control water now, right?” Lance shrugged.  
  
“I don’t really know, I haven’t done it myself yet.” Varian said, glancing away. “Besides…we can wait for the ferry.”  
  
“But, don’t we have to go?” Lance asked.  
  
“She can wait.” He said, closing his eyes. “I’d rather stay here until the ferry arrives.”  
  
Lance’s brow furrowed. “But…”  
  
“ _Some_ of us aren’t so eager to go to where an _abusive parent_ is _waiting_ for us!” Varian walked into another room and used black rocks to block the door.  
  
“…Right.” Lance rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry.”  
  
Eugene sighed.  
  
\--  
  
Varian lay on his bed with a sigh, staring up at the black ceiling. Time was ticking by and his days were numbered, he could feel it. She was waiting, watching, he could sense her everywhere. He closed his eyes and he could feel her in his head. She was in his dreams, in his waking world, she was everywhere. And she was waiting. She was patient, but she was waiting.  
  
And Varian, well…he was afraid to go. He was afraid of what would happen to him there. One way or the other, the Moonstone would be whole. He would either absorb it or lose himself – forever.  
  
Lance didn’t mean any harm. He didn’t understand, he didn’t know all the details. All he knew was that they were on a road trip to the Dark Kingdom. They were going to find the spell at the Great Tree that would free his father. He didn’t know the true stakes.   
  
He rolled onto his side and let out a sigh.   
  
He heard a knock on the other side of the rocks and sighed, sensing who it was, before lowering the rocks to allow Rapunzel in.  
  
“Hey.” She walked over and sat next to him as he sat up. “How you doing?”  
  
“I’ll be better once we’re off this stupid island and my hair will stop glowing constantly. It’s giving me a headache.” He rubbed his head.  
  
“Well, if you’re interested, I’ve made you some new clothes.” Rapunzel handed him a bundle she was carrying. “Try it on? Maybe you can convince Hugo to wear his.”  
  
Varian chuckled and looked at it. “Ah, no. No, this is way too much skin that would be revealed if I did, sis. Mother would not approve.”  
  
“You mean my _real_ mother, or…” She left it hanging and his eyes widened as he realized what he’d said.  
  
“I-I meant…Queen Arianna. Aunt Arianna. _Your_ mother.” He looked a bit flustered. “I don’t know if…if my mother would.”  
  
“Well…you can ask Donella.” She smiled encouragingly. “Try it on.” She headed for the door. “I’m gonna get changed.”  
  
He nodded and then started to change out of his tunic and pants. Honestly, he wasn’t thinking of Queen Arianna at all. And the weirdest part was, he’d _never_ called Gothel “Mother”. Was it because the Moonstone insisted on taking her form, and on him calling her “Mother”?   
  
He decided not to dwell on it.  
  
The shirt was teal and short-sleeved and the pants were a pale green and stopped at his knees. And the cut of the shirt was way too low, it reached the top of his chest just far enough to have a bit of cleavage.   
  
Gothel would _certainly_ not approve.  
  
He put his goggles, gloves and pants back on before grabbing his satchel and felt a little bit better before he stepped out to join the others.  
  
“I said ‘no’ and I meant it.” Hugo said firmly.  
  
“You two are going to overheat in those clothes.” Rapunzel said impatiently.  
  
“I’m fine!” Hugo insisted.  
  
“Princess, please, we will be fine.” Donella assured her. “Do you ever think that perhaps we have a valid reason to _want_ to cover up?”  
  
Rapunzel jolted a bit, then looked at the scars on Donella’s face. “Oh.” She said, guessing there must be more hidden under her clothes. “Right. Sorry.”  
  
“Everything okay?” Varian asked, walking over to them.  
  
“Yeah, we’re fine, your sister was just…just…uh…” Hugo‘s eyes widened and he seemed to have trouble speaking.  
  
“Varian, didn’t you put on those sandals I made you?” Rapunzel pouted.  
  
“Rapunzel, when have you _ever_ seen me without my boots?” He raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Yes, but we’re on an _island_ now. We don’t wear boots on an island.” Rapunzel tried to coax him.  
  
“Lance is.” Varian pointed to him.  
  
“Only because I haven’t made him new clothes yet.” Rapunzel sighed. “Fine, fine. Keep the boots on. You could just go without shoes, too!”  
  
“Give up, Sunshine.” Eugene chuckled. “You’re not winning this one, not against him.”  
  
“Fine. I concede. This time.” She raised her head in a proud way and walked away.   
  
Varian chuckled and walked over to sit down next to Hugo. “So, she failed to convince you to change?”  
  
“The outfit she gave me shows too much skin.” Hugo glanced away. “Besides, I’m perfectly happy as I am.”  
  
“Okay.” Varian nodded.  
  
“’Okay’? You’re not going to try to convince me?” Hugo looked surprised.  
  
“Why would I?” Varian grinned. “You wear what you’re comfortable wearing. Island or not.” He nudged him. “Just don’t throw a fit when you start overheating.” He teased.  
  
Hugo glanced away, his cheeks pink, and adjusted his glasses. “The possibility of that might have increased since you put on that shirt.”  
  
Varian looked at it. “Yeah, I guess it _is_ a bit low-cut, isn’t it?”  
  
Rapunzel came in in. “Guys! There’s another leaf person out there! Come on, let’s go follow it!”  
  
Donella raised an eyebrow. “What did I say about pestering the locals?”  
  
“Pleeeease?” Rapunzel walked up to her. “Come on, don’t you want to learn about their culture?”  
  
“If they’re stalking us anyway, we may as well see who they are.” Varian suggested.  
  
Donella sighed. “Fine. We will go see if we can find their home and study their culture.”  
  
Rapunzel beamed. “This is going to be so fun!”  
  
“Or disastrous.” Cassandra remarked as they headed out.  
  
Varian created a black rock fence around the house to protect it and then Rapunzel pointed to the leaf person running away. “Should I stop it?”  
  
“No, let’s just follow it!” Rapunzel said, leading the way.  
  
“Maybe this isn’t a good idea.” Cassandra sighed, looking at Varian.  
  
“Yeah, but we already said we’re doing it.” Varian shrugged. “Besides, we gotta find something to occupy our time while waiting for the ferry.”  
  
\--  
  
They followed the little leaf person until he disappeared into some bushes and then they saw several pairs of eyes open up. Lance let out a shriek and hid behind Donella. “It’s a spider!”  
  
“Too many eyes, and they’re not in the correct location.” She assured him.  
  
“O-Oh yeah.” Lance relaxed.  
  
The eyes all dropped to the ground and then the leaf-person they were chasing held up a tiny spear. “Attack!”  
  
“Oh shit.” Hugo hissed as they charged.  
  
Varian threw up a hand and black spikes came up between them before the crowd of leaf people were penned in by more black spikes. They tried and failed in vain to climb the rocks, and the humans relaxed.  
  
“Aw, they’re actually kind of cute!” Rapunzel said.  
  
Pascal looked down at them, raised an eyebrow, and then buried himself in her hair more.  
  
“Sure, for murder-leaves.” Hugo shook his head.  
  
Suddenly, they started to jump _over_ the rocks. Varian brought up more rocks to block them, but they dodged around them. “Okay, they’re onto me.” He said as they backed up.  
  
“Run!” Eugene decided.  
  


They fled, the leaf people in pursuit. “May I suggest,” Donella said as they fled from the growing swarm, “we return to our beach house and _stay_ there?”  
  
“A cave!” Rapunzel grabbed Varian’s arm and pulled him in and they all followed inside, save for the horses that took it upon themselves to be distractions and ran on.  
  
“They’ll be okay.” Rapunzel assured the others, though she didn’t look so certain herself.  
  
“Whoa.” Varian looked around in awe. “What _is_ this place?”  
  
“Judging by the murals on the wall,” Donella said thoughtfully, “this appears to be where they keep record.”  
  
“What does it all mean?” Rapunzel asked as they looked up at the murals.  
  
“Hey, look, it’s your frog!” Eugene grinned, pointing at the wall.  
  
Among the murals was one of a chameleon. Donella looked at it thoughtfully, then reached into her satchel to pull out a small waterproof box. Varian looked at her curiously as she pulled out charcoal and then picked up Pascal.  
  
“What are you doing?” Rapunzel asked, looking at her.  
  
“You don’t mind, do you?” Donella asked Pascal. “I just want to see how it looks if you match the picture.” She nodded to it.  
  
Pascal looked at it and nodded, puffing out his belly. She nodded and started to draw it on him, earning some giggles from the chameleon.  
  
“Guys, we have company.” Lance alerted them. Varian summoned black rocks to block the doorway as the leaf-people came running to get inside.  
  
“No, no.” Donella held up Pascal, having finished copying the image of the sun onto his belly to match the picture. “Let’s see what happens. Let them in.”  
  
“Don?” Hugo looked at her in disbelief.  
  
She nodded encouragingly to Varian as she set Pascal down on the little shelf in front of the mural that now greatly resembled him. Varian looked uncertain but lowered the rocks. The leaf-people came charging in and surrounded the group.  
  
“It’s the end of the line, _frienfloofers_.” The leader said aggressively.  
  
“Wow, you guys must be champions at tag!” Rapunzel said nervously as they moved closer together.   
  
“Wait!” The leader gasped, looking towards Pascal. As he shifted the lantern he held in his other hand, the light shone on Pascal and his shadow grew to match the size of the mural behind him. “It’s Lizardus!”  
  
Hugo and Varian exchanged confused looks as Donella just looked smug while the leaf people bowed down.  
  
Maximus and Fidella came in while they were still bowing and looked at the situation with confusion. Ruddiger climbed onto the shelf to sit next to Pascal, who was looking simultaneously excited but also terrified.  
  
“Lizardus, it is _you_.” The leader of the leaf-people said as the others formed a ladder of themselves so he could go up to stand in front of Pascal. Ruddiger moved a paw around Pascal protectively and let out a low growl, to which Pascal patted his paw and gave a little squeak of assurance. This seemed to relax the leaf-person, too and he bowed down.  
  
“Who is Lizardus?” Donella asked curiously.  
  
“ _He_ is Lizardus!” The leader said as he turned to her. “We Lorbs have been awaiting the sacred Lizardus Rex for centuries!” He bowed to Pascal. “For he is our Kloopenhogun!”  
  
“What’s that mean?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“Our King!” The Lorb said with delight.  
  
“Wait, wait, wait. Did you just say that this little frog is your _king_?” Eugene asked.  
  
“Chameleon.” Varian corrected with a sigh.  
  
“He knows what I mean.” Eugene shrugged it off.  
  
“But, his name is Lizardus. He’s Pascal.” Rapunzel picked him up and held him close as he nuzzled her cheek.  
  
“No. He is Lizardus, we are the Lorbs, and _you_ are the _frienfloofers_.” The leader corrected.  
  
“And what does _that_ mean?” Varian asked.  
  
“And such _cute_ ones, too!” He hopped onto the ladder of Lorbs and they lifted him up to he could squeeze Varian’s cheeks. He responded by flashing his eyes dangerously. “Oh, my.”  
  
Varian grabbed the leader and created a cage of black rocks around him before he set it down next to Pascal and opened the cage with a flick of the wrist. “Don’t touch me.”  
  
The Lorb shook it off. “Lizardus, you must return with us to Lorbwalda, so that the others can honor you!” He said, focusing on Pascal again.  
  
“That sounds terrific!” Rapunzel said excitedly. “Show us the way!”  
  
“Uh-uh, we are not _talking_ to _you_.” The Lorb turned to her rudely.  
  
Another black rock cage wrapped around him, as well as all the others on the ground and stone shelf. “You wanna rethink your manners?” Varian asked cheerfully. “Because I can and _will_ crush you if you talk like that to my sister again.”  
  
“Varian, it’s okay.” Rapunzel assured him.  
  
“No, it’s not.” Varian said coldly.  
  
“Temper, temper.” Hugo teased him. Varian just shot him an annoyed look. “Okay, wow.  
  
“Lizardus, help us!” The Lorb leader pleaded.  
  
Pascal climbed up onto Varian’s shoulder and nuzzled his cheek imploringly. Varian sighed. “Fine. I’ll let them go, but if they talk like that to any of us again, I’m caging them and leaving them like that until the ferry arrives.” He flicked his wrist and the cages all opened.  
  
“So…Lorbwaldo?” Rapunzel asked nervously.  
  
\--  
  
The Lorb village was small, as expected, and full of lots of Lorbs. Varian made sure to show them who was in control here as soon as any of them showed hostility or rudeness at their arrival by caging the leader once again. While certainly not a _diplomatic_ way of handling things, it was…effective. Rapunzel was starting to worry that he’d been spending too much time around Donella and her brash ways of handling…problems.   
  
After the leader was released and things had calmed down, Pascal was presented to everyone as “Lizardus” and a celebration began. Ruddiger wrapped around Varian’s shoulders resignedly as Pascal clearly reveled in the attention.  
  
“Maybe someone should remind _His Majesty_ that we’re leaving when the ferry arrives, _with_ or _without_ him.” Cassandra said irritably.  
  
“Aw, but he’s having fun!” Rapunzel said cheerfully.  
  
Cassandra sighed and looked at Donella, who was making notes and drawing in her bestiary. Varian scooted closer to her and cleared his throat. “So…have you and my mom ever…been here?” He asked.  
  
“No, we have not. But, she would have loved this place if we did. So many new things to experiment with, a culture of leaf people that worship a chameleon and collect lanterns from Corona,” she gestured around them at the lanterns all over the place, “oh, she wouldn’t have wanted to leave. I’d have to knock her out and carry her onto the ferry.”  
  
Varian chuckled. “Really?”  
  
“Yeah.” Donella nodded, smiling softly at him.  
  
“It’s pretty crazy that my birthday lanterns made it _all the way here_ , though. I’ve always wondered where they landed!” Rapunzel said excitedly.  
  
“Wind carried them pretty far away.” Cassandra nodded.  
  
“No! These sacred sun symbols came from the heavens!” One of the Lorbs argued, walking up to glare at Rapunzel.  
  
“And if you say another word to her, _my_ sacred black rocks are going to come from the ground beneath you.” Varian said with a cold smile. The Lorb quickly shut up. “They came from the sky, sent by the Kingdom we come from, Corona. They’re man-made.”  
  
“No, they are gifts from the Kloopenhogun him—” The Lorb started to argue.  
  
“That sun symbol is the insignia of the Kingdom of Corona, where your ‘King’ is also from, but he didn’t send a single one.” Varian corrected.  
  
“Ah, let them have their delusions, Stripes.” Hugo said on Donella’s other side. “We’ll be leaving in about a week or two, anyway.”  
  
The Lorbs suddenly screamed as a mosquito flew into the area. “Blood-hungry sky beasts!” One of them cried.  
  
Pascal lashed out his tongue and had the mosquito for lunch. When the Lorbs begin to cheer, he looked at a complete loss for a bit before just relaxing and going with the flow.  
  
“Hm. They seem to have a fear of bugs.” Donella made note of that.  
  
“A mosquito, though? Not a caterpillar? You know, the bug that _actually eats leaves_?” Varian raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Perhaps _all_ bugs.” She shrugged.  
  
“Oh, Kloopenhogun! You are a master with the bug hunting!” The leader declared.  
  
Ruddiger chittered and Varian chuckled. “Well, you can show off your bug-hunting skills later.”  
  
“You must tackle the Firefly!” One of the pink Lorbs said excitedly.  
  
“I still can’t believe there’s a whole culture that worships Pascal.” Lance said thoughtfully. “Can you imagine finding out there’s a whole culture that _worships_ you?”  
  
Varian gave him a side-long look. “The Dark Kingdom, where we’re going, worshipped the Moonstone before it fell.”  
  
“Oh, yeah. That must’ve been a shock to find out, huh?” Lance grinned.  
  
“Oh yeah.” Varian nodded.  
  
The praise was still going on and Varian tuned out most of it until he noticed Rapunzel getting up to follow Pascal and the Lorb leader somewhere. “Huh? What’s going on?”  
  
“They want Pascal’s help with something.” Donella said as they all got up and follow them.  
  
\--  
  
They were brought to a field, where half-eaten fruit was lying around everywhere. “What’s happened here?” Eugene asked, looking around.  
  
“Here is our most prized crop,” the leader of the Lorbs said as he turned to them, “the pompoen fruit.” He looked so happy for a moment, then looked sad. “Unfortunately, we lost it _all_ in the blaze started by the evil Firefly!”  
  
They looked to the side, where the field was all charred and damaged.  
  
“Yeesh.” Rapunzel cringed.  
  
“We face starvation!” The Lorb leader went on, then went to stand next to Pascal, who was sitting on the ground. “But, the Kloopenhogun has arrived in the nick of time!” He started to bow down over and over. “Kloopenhogun!”  
  
“So…it’s a fire-breathing fly? Or maybe a firefly decided to take the ‘fire’ part literally.” Varian said thoughtfully as he walked over to examine the damage.  
  
“A fire-breathing bug?” Cassandra walked over to join him. “Hey, maybe you can counter it with that water trick you learned.”  
  
“I haven’t actually used it before, and I can’t pull water from nothing.” He shook his head. “But, we might be able to do something else to—”  
  
“Varian! Cass! We’re going back!” Rapunzel called.  
  
“You know, after the Drexis, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was really just a firefly that breathed fire.” Varian said as they walked over to follow them back. “Still, maybe there’s a perfectly scientific explanation for it. After all, not everything has to be magical.”  
  
Cassandra chuckled. “That’s true.”  
  
Varian sighed. “But, if it _is_ the magical danger that my powers are warning me about…that would be good. Once it’s handled, my headache will go away.”  
  
Cassandra smiled and rubbed his head. “Let’s hope it is, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can they defeat the Firefly and save the crops?
> 
> ((A/N: Okay, first of all, I am SO sorry this has been taking so long. I procrastinated because I don't like the Lorbs but I'd already stranded them there so I had to deal with them, and then some drama happened that some of you may have been present for and if you were I deeply apologize for all that and if you weren't...it was a mess. I was a mess. Anyways, after the drama I went through some heartbreaking and world-shattering reflection, focused on mostly one-shots for my "Filling the Blank" series and started some new fics I'm going to be posting after I update all of these, and now I'm finally getting to updating the fics I have up here. So, yeah. sorry for the wait, thanks for sticking around if you did, and hopefully next chapter will be up a lot sooner. I have plans for the next two episodes after this one.))


	40. 40

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pascal falls into his role of "Lizardus" spectacularly, but what is the Lorbs' plan for him in the end?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

Upon returning to Lorbwaldo, a feast was held in Pascal’s—Lizardus’—honor. He was given a silly crown to wear and pampered and Varian could see that Ruddiger was starting to get annoyed about it.  
  
“Don’t worry, this will pass.” He assured him. “He’ll be coming back with us. Let’s focus on the problem, hm? The Firefly?”  
  
Ruddiger let out a sigh.  
  
\--  
  
When the Lorbs tried to force them to fan Pascal, they were all quickly reminded their place when Varian trapped the entire population in black rock cages for five minutes, which is how long it took for Pascal to plead with him to let them all out. In the end, the Lorbs did the fanning themselves, and they had a title for Varian that was clearly not intended to be nice: _Finskloopenhogun_. Which basically translated to “Dark King” or “Tyrant”. Among other names they called him under their breath that they guessed were insults and swear words.  
  
Rapunzel didn’t like it, but Varian had assured her that he was fine with it. If he needed to make these people call him a Dark King and use fear to make them stop trying to treat them like lesser beings, then so be it.   
  
Despite this development, the celebration for Pascal—Lizardus—went on, the people further encouraged by his being able to convince the _Finskloopenhogun_ to release them unharmed.   
  
\--  
  
“I don’t think they like you.” Hugo said, nudging Varian as they looked at statues made of their group. Varian was looking especially cruel and demonic with black rocks around him.  
  
“Good, the feeling is mutual.” Varian said smugly.  
  
Donella chuckled. “Oh, Ulla, if only you could see him.” She said, gripping her necklace with a fond smile.  
  
“Do we all have to look so…feral?” Eugene asked.  
  
“They view us like animals, I guess.” Cassandra made a face.  
  
“At least they got your nose right.” Lance snickered.  
  
“Yeah, at least they did that.” Eugene nodded.  
  
“Pascal looks great!” Rapunzel said, smiling at him. “Though, _my_ nose is a bit _pointy_.”  
  
“And _I_ don’t have _sharp teeth_.” Cassandra frowned.  
  
“They gave me a demonic cloak, that is _awesome_.” Varian laughed.  
  
“Donella and I don’t look too bad.” Hugo said thoughtfully.  
  
“Probably because we haven’t really done much to vex them.” Donella said with a smirk. “The craftsmanship is rather impressive.”  
  
\--  
  
While Pascal continued to be pampered, the others took the time to explore the area. The Lorbs actually seemed glad to see Varian walking off, but he looked back at them and grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back.” He assured them before walking on.  
  
“He’s really getting into the ‘Dark King’ title, isn’t he?” Eugene remarked.  
  
Rapunzel sighed. “Mother would be proud.” She said quietly, shaking her head.   
  
Eugene leaned in a bit. “…Which _one_?”  
  
She sighed heavily. “Honestly, with Donella’s comments? Sounds like his _real_ one would be.”  
  
Cassandra looked over at where the alchemists were checking out a waterfall near the village, Lance with them. “I dunno, I think he’s just having fun. He doesn’t really mean to hurt anyone.”  
  
“Yeah.” Rapunzel nodded, then looked back at Pascal. “ _He_ seems to be having fun, _too_.”  
  
“Maybe a little too much.” Eugene shrugged.  
  
\--  
  
“We waited, and we hoped. And we waited some more,” The leader said as he gave a speech before the feast, “and then waited a teeny bit more. But, finally, our _Kloopenhogun_ is here!”  
  
“Granted, he brought with him the _Finskloopenhogun_.” One of the other Lorbs muttered, eyeing Varian warily.  
  
“Yes, well, let’s not dwell on the negatives.” The leader said, as Lorbs fawned over Pascal. “Our _Kloopenhogun_ is here, and he will save us! But, first, we feast!”  
  
The Lorbs all cheered and started to eat. The humans and animals all ate at another table, separated from him.  
  
“Look, Raps, this has been _fun_ , but honestly the _only_ reason I haven’t gone into a rage is because Varian is keeping those little…” Cassandra eyed them aggressively, “ _tribe-folk_ in line.”  
  
“Oh, come on, Cassandra.” Eugene teased. “We’re learning about a new culture! So what if it’s a culture of leaf people that sees humans as pets and worships lizards?”  
  
“ _I’m_ having fun.” Varian said with a grin.  
  
“Well, I’m _not_. The number of times you’ve had to stop them…ugh.” She turned to him. “Varian, aren’t you concerned about how… _aggressive_ you’ve become?”  
  
He blinked at her. “Uhm…pretty sure I’ve _always_ been like this. This is really nothing new.” He shrugged. “I’m just in better control of the rocks now, so I can let loose a lot better.”  
  
“Besides, this is only temporary. Once their problem is solved, Pascal will be coming back to join us and we can go back to the house.” Rapunzel said encouragingly. “Come on, look on the positive side! There’s so much of this exotic fruit to eat!” She picked up one of the Pompoa fruits.  
  
“I wouldn’t eat that.” Donella said as Rapunzel took a bite.  
  
“Why not?” Varian asked.  
  
“It’s a pepper.” Donella said, as Rapunzel started whimpering and wiping at her forehead.  
  
“It’s a _what_?” Rapunzel managed.  
  
“Do they not have peppers in Corona?” Hugo looked at Varian.  
  
Varian blinked and shrugged. “We get it sent in bottles sometimes. It’s a spice, isn’t it?”  
  
“This fruit is…mmm…kinda….” Rapunzel flapped her hand at her face.  
  
“Kinda’ _what_ , Raps?” Cassandra asked smugly.  
  
“Spicy.” Hugo chimed in. “ _Very_ spicy. It probably feels like your mouth is on fire!”  
  
“Fire?” Varian looked thoughtful, looking at the fruit.  
  
“It’s just, uh…uh…” Rapunzel struggled.  
  
“I’m sorry, ‘just’ what?” Cassandra teased, pulling her hair back to hear her better.  
  
“It’s, uh…it’s… _delicious_.” Rapunzel said, looking like she was on the verge of tears from the pain.  
  
“Really?” Cassandra said teasingly. “Then, here.” She offered her another.  
  
“That’s enough.” Donella placed her hand on Cassandra’s wrist. “You shouldn’t take peppers lightly, especially if you’re so new to them.”  
  
Rapunzel suddenly screamed and started to try to ease the burning in her mouth by burying her face in the “soup” they’d been given, and then some kind of grass food the Lorbs were eating.  
  
“Rapunzel, are you okay?” Varian asked, hurrying to her side.  
  
“These are some _really_ silly _frienfloofers_ you adopted.” The leader of the Lorbs said, looking at Pascal.  
  
Pascal just nodded in agreement.  
  
Rapunzel pulled her head up from the grass and let out a sigh. “Oh, that’s better.”  
  
“Okay, so we don’t eat the ‘peppers’.” Varian said, shooting the Lorbs a dark look when they looked about to laugh at Rapunzel.  
  
“These stinky weeds are refreshing.” Rapunzel said, nodding. Varian reached up and got some off her face. “Okay. Uhm, Pascal, can we talk for a bit?” She asked, turning to him. “This whole…’pets’ thing is…it’s kind of upsetting the others. We’re not your pets, we’re your _friends. Your family._ ”  
  
“I mean, unless those years in the tower and all the months after meant _nothing_ to you.” Varian remarked. Rapunzel nudged him.  
  
“Surely, Lizardus would _never_ consider himself _friends_ or _family_ with the likes of _you_.” The Lorb leader challenged.  
  
“Surely, ‘Lizardus’ would _never_ associate himself with condescending people like _you_.” Varian retorted, walking past Rapunzel to stare the leader down.  
  
Pascal was looking very uncomfortable now, looking between the two awkwardly.  
  
“Pascal, you’re _not_ Lizardus.” Rapunzel sighed. “You’re _Pascal_. My _friend_. My…first friend, even before I met Varian. My secret friend that Mother never knew about, who has stood by me all these years.”  
  
Pascal glanced away and Rapunzel walked past the two having their stare-down to kneel next to him. “Where’s my generous, kindhearted little buddy?” She asked softly, reaching out a hand for him to climb onto. “Huh?”  
  
“Little?” The Lorb leader scoffed, then yelped as he was lifted into the air by Varian. “Agh! Unhand me, _Finskloopenhogun!_ ”  
  
“Sorry, my sister is talking to your _King_. You’ll have to shut up and wait.” He said, putting him down on the ground and trapping him in a black rock cage again.  
  
“Lizardus Rex is _anything_ but ‘little’!” The Lorb went on. “Lizardus possesses mighty power! He can even tame the _Finskloopenhogun_!”  
  
“I’m not _tame_.” Varian knelt next to the cage with a grin. “I’m just _nice_. At least, as long as he considers me a friend. If you try to cut that off, well…I have no reason to be _nice_ anymore, do I?”  
  
The Lorbs all started to come at him and he held up a clenched fist, all of them being trapped in tiny, black rock cages. “Floor is yours, sis.”  
  
Rapunzel looked at him with concern, then looked back at Pascal. “Pascal? We… _are_ still friends, right? You’re…You’re not going to leave us?”  
  
Ruddiger came over and sat on the table in front of Pascal, looking at him. Pascal looked at them, then Varian, then the others at the table, then the Lorbs. He then climbed off the chair and over to Varian, placing a claw on the cage trapping the leader and looking up at him.  
  
“This is your choice?” Varian asked softly. Pascal nodded. “Fine.” He stood up. “Let’s leave, everyone. He’s made his choice.” He opened his hand and the cages all opened up.  
  
“Leave? But—” Rapunzel started, but was cut off by the Lorbs cheering and taking Pascal away from them.  
  
“If he wants to face the Firefly for these people, then that’s his choice.” Varian said, turning to the others. “We’re done humoring his charade. Let’s go back to the beach-house.”  
  
“No!” Rapunzel said firmly. “I’m _not_ giving up on him, Varian! We’re _not_ leaving!”  
  
“He threw us away for a lie, Rapunzel! They only think he’s their ‘Lizardus’ because Donella drew that sun on his chest! He threw us away for people that see us as…as _pets_.” Varian clenched his fists, black rocks starting to grow around the little city.  
  
“Varian…” Rapunzel reached for him, but he just tensed. “Varian, please—”  
  
“When are you going to learn that your optimism doesn’t always work?! Pascal left us, Rapunzel! He made his choice!” Varian snapped. “Between _us_ and _those people_ , he chose _them_!”  
  
“Stripes.”  
  
He looked up and saw the others had come over to join them, Hugo at the front as Eugene went to Rapunzel’s side. “It’s gonna be okay.” Hugo gently pulled him close. “It’s gonna be okay. We still have time to get him to come back, right? Don’t give up on him so easily. He stood by you guys for years, she said it herself. He could have left at any time, but he stayed. He'll come back.”  
  
“Kid’s right.” Eugene smiled and hugged Rapunzel. “Pascal adores you, Sunshine. He’ll be back. For now, though…let’s just let him have his fun. Varian, can you remove these rocks?”  
  
“Oh, right.” Varian nodded and lowered the black rocks that had risen up in his anger.  
  
“Come on.” Eugene coaxed Rapunzel. “We’ll be nearby but give Pascal his space to do his thing. We have plenty of time before the ferry arrives.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded, then clutched at his shirt before she turned to Varian. “Varian…”  
  
Varian turned to her, then they both walked towards each other and met in the middle, hugging tightly. “I’m sorry. I just…it hurts me too, seeing him like this.”  
  
“I know.” She held him tighter. “I hope he comes back to us soon.”  
  
\--  
  
They hung around the outskirts of the village, but didn’t try to interact with Pascal again. Varian noticed the Lorbs eyeing them nervously, though; especially him. Currently, they were dressing Pascal up in coconut shells.  
  
“And now our hero, Lizardus Rex, will defeat our enemy, the Firefly!” They heard the leader declare.  
  
“Lizardus! Lizardus! Lizardus! Lizardus!” The Lorbs all chanted.  
  
“We bestow unto you the mighty Staff of Cupon!” The leader went on as Pascal was handed a crab’s claw on a stick.  
  
“That’s gross.” Hugo remarked.  
  
“And decorate you with the stinky weeds of Lorbwaldo!” The leader said, putting a a cape on the chameleon.  
  
Pascal struck a dramatic pose as the Lorbs all chanted his name, clearly enjoying the attention.  
  
“Come on, why don’t we go wait for him at the house?” Lance suggested. “I’m feeling a bit tired.”  
  
“Well, we can at least take a break from this watching.” Varian said, walking off. Rapunzel reluctantly followed with the others.  
  
“Cheer up, Stripes.” Hugo nudged him as they walked down the path. “He’ll be back to us in no time.”  
  
Something whizzed by and Rapunzel gasped, turning towards it. “Uhh…did anyone _else_ see that?”  
  
“The giant bug?” Lance squeaked.  
  
“I think that’s the Firefly.” Donella said, making a note in her bestiary.  
  
“They want Pascal to fight _that_?” Varian hissed, looking up at the giant, flying insect. Well, “giant” was really relative, it was only about the size of a toddler, but it was still _huge_ for a bug.  
  
“It’s gonna eat him alive.” Eugene cringed.  
  
“No! Pascal!” Rapunzel cried in horror.  
  
“We have to warn him!” Cassandra said firmly.  
  
Lorbs suddenly came out of the foliage. “You will warn him of nothing!” One of them said aggressively as they jumped at them with nets.  
  
“Ohhh, you don’t want to tick me off.” Varian said, using black rocks to cut right through their nets. They charged at him and Hugo and Cassandra smacked them to the ground before Varian contained them with black rocks cages. “You want a _Dark King_? I’ll _give_ you all a _Dark King_.” He grinned maliciously. “Come on!” He ran back to the city, leaving the Lorbs trapped as the others followed him.  
  
They ran into the city and Lorbs swarmed them, only to be caught in black rock cages. “Where is Pascal?!” Rapunzel demanded.  
  
“Release us, _Finskloopenhogun!_ ” The Lord demanded, ignoring Rapunzel.  
  
Varian stepped towards them. “Where is Lizardus?”  
  
“You cannot stop him! He will fight the Firefly and we will have a bountiful—eep!” The Lorb squeaked in alarm as a black rock shot out of the ground near his cage.  
  
“Where?” Varian demanded coldly.  
  
“T-The cliff!” The Lorb squeaked. “I will show you, _Finskloopenhogun_ , if you release me!”  
  
Varian nodded firmly and opened the cage, letting that one Lorb go. “You try to double-cross me and you’ll _learn_ how much of a _tyrant_ I can be.” He said firmly. “Lead the way!”  
  
The Lorb nodded frantically and led them all along.  
  
\--  
  
“Pascal!” Rapunzel called as they ran after the Lorb. “Pascal, where are you?!”  
  
“Bug!” Lance yelped.  
  
Pascal came rolling down the hill and bumped into Rapunzel’s leg. Rapunzel quickly picked him up and held him close. “Pascal, are you okay?” She carefully removed his cumbersome “armor”.  
  
“Okay, so giant bug.” Varian said, frowning. “That breathes fire.”  
  
“Why is it breathing fire?” Hugo asked.  
  
“Most likely because it’s been eating the peppers.” Donella said thoughtfully. “You saw how well Rapunzel took it. We saw so many half-eaten peppers in that field before.”  
  
“So…if we give it that stinky weed stuff, it’ll stop?” Hugo looked at her.  
  
“It’s possible. The question is, how to restrain it safely.” Donella looked at Varian.  
  
“Rapunzel!” Varian turned to her. “Use your hair to bring that thing down!”  
  
“Got it!” She handed Pascal to Eugene and then let down her hair before swinging it like a lasso. Varian used black rocks to corral the bug and then Rapunzel caught it with her hair before pulling it down. Once it was low enough, Varian caught it in another Black Rock cage and she pulled her hair free.  
  
The bug blew fire at them and looked at them furiously.  
  
“Master, what is the problem?” The Lorb leader approached them. “Why did you not change form and fight it?”  
  
“Because you’re delusional.” Varian said, walking over to Pascal as he was set down by Eugene.  
  
“Pascal is _not_ a warrior king.” Rapunzel said, walking over and kneeling next to Pascal as he took off his helmet. “He doesn’t _have_ another form, he is a chameleon.”  
  
“But, you wouldn’t listen and you just kept praising him and he was enjoying it too much and he probably thought that he could really help you.” Varian added, kneeling next to Pascal. “You forgot to mention the fact that it’s a _giant bug_.” He took off Pascal’s cape. “Let’s see if Donella’s theory is right.” He stood up and walked over to the cage.  
  
“Varian, be careful!” Varian cried.  
  
“It’s okay.” Varian smiled. “It hurts, doesn’t it?” He held out the stinky weed to the bug. “Come on, eat up.”  
  
The bug took the weeds from his hand and he stepped back, watching as it devoured the weed and then changed color from a vicious yellow-orange color to a blue color. Varian opened the cage and the bug lifted into the air and then flew off, no longer breathing fire.  
  
“Now…” Varian turned to the Lorbs, his eyes glowing. “ _You_.”  
  
“Varian,” Rapunzel stood up as Pascal climbed up his body to sit on his shoulder and nuzzled him soothingly. Varian looked at him and sighed softly, his eyes losing their aggressive glow. “They could have let you die, Pascal. And you just want to forgive them?” Pascal nodded. Varian took him into his palms and smiled softly. “Okay. I guess I’ll forgive them, too.”  
  
Pascal hugged his hands and then Varian brought him over to Rapunzel, who accepted him happily. Ruddiger climbed up onto Varian’s shoulders and nuzzled him.   
  
“Your ‘Firefly’ is abnormally large, but he’s not evil.” Donella walked over to the Lorbs. “He simply reacted badly to eating the peppers – the Pompoa fruit. So, as long as you make sure to give it stinky weed after, it won’t burn up your crops anymore.”  
  
“Come on, let’s go back to the village and, uh, release the Lorbs you caged up, Varian.” Eugene suggested.  
  
“Oh, yeah. Sorry about that.” Varian shrugged. “They attacked us, so I locked them up.”  
  
“You aren’t so bad, for a _Finskloopenhogun._ ” The leader said, eyeing him warily.  
  
“Yeah, let’s just mutually agree we hate each other and move on.” Varian said cheerfully.  
  
\--  
  
They went back to the village and Varian released the Lorbs from their cages. Pascal looked at the Lorb leader a bit awkwardly and the Lorb smiled. “Despite not being Lizardus, you still tried to help us. And, were it not for you bringing the _friendfloofers_ and the _Finskloopenhogun_ , we would not have learned how to stop the Firefly from destroying our crops.”  
  
Pascal squeaked happily. The Lorb leader smiled. “We have lost a King, but we have made a friend.”  
  
“Hey, by the way, what’s your name?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“It is Alfons.” He replied. “I suppose you will be going back to your dark home soon?”  
  
“Yeah, it’s getting late.” Varian nodded.  
  
“Well, then, perhaps we will be seeing you again, _Finskloopenhogun_.” Alfons said, then led his people back to their homes.  
  
“Let’s go home.” Varian picked up Pascal and they headed off. Ruddiger chittered something to Pascal and he squeaked in reply. Maximus and Fidella knickered as they walked, apparently joining in their conversation.  
  
“Wonder what they’re talking about?” Hugo asked as they walked.  
  
“They’re probably telling him off for giving us trouble.” Cassandra shrugged. “So, Donella, was all that worth your little experiment?”  
  
Donella chuckled. “Yes, it was. I am pleased with the results, we learned so much.”  
  
Varian chuckled. “Well, as long as you got what you wanted.”  
  
Donella smiled fondly at him. “I did.” She put her bestiary away.  
  
“Alright! Let’s go home, relax, and wait for the ferry to arrive!” Rapunzel said cheerfully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With the Firefly calmed down and the Lorbs no longer in danger, it's time to relax and enjoy the island a little more!


	41. 41

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the Lorb trouble handled, Varian takes some time to practice his new magic. Hugo joins him for it and Varian learns more about the other teenager.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney
> 
> ((A/N: This one has a bit of a sensitive topic, but to give you the warnings would spoil the plot of this particular chapter so I'm just gonna say that Hugo had a very rough past. Don't worry, though, no non-con/dub-con or anything serious like that.))

The moon was high in the sky when Hugo decided he couldn’t sleep after being woken by a nightmare and left his and Donella’s shared room to sit by the fire. To his surprise, the front door was open and the fence lowered. “…Stripes?” He frowned and stepped outside, looking around. “Stripes? Hey, you around?” He walked out further, feeling a bit anxious as he rubbed at his wrists. “Varian?”  
  
He heard a splashing sound and looked to the side. The first thing he spotted was Varian bursting out of the water. The second thing he noticed was Varian’s clothes sitting on a flat, black rock. _All_ of his clothes. His cheeks went pink and he turned away, suddenly flustered.  
  
“Hugo?” Varian caught his attention and he looked over at him over his shoulder.   
  
Varian was leaning against a normal rock jutting out of the water, his tail swishing back and— _tail. Right. No wonder he wasn’t wearing anything, he was probably just playing with his new powers._   
  
Hugo mentally kicked himself and turned to him, chuckling a bit. “Hey, Stripes. Couldn’t sleep?”  
  
“Nighttime is the best time to try out new powers.” Varian said, casually creating a little funnel of water as he sat on the rock, his tail lazily drifting back and forth. “Come join me?”  
  
“Join you?” Hugo asked.  
  
“Sure.” Varian nodded. “Swim with me?”  
  
Hugo rubbed at his wrists again. “I, uh…I don’t really swim much.”  
  
“I noticed, you were drowning pretty fast.” Varian raised an eyebrow. “You need to be taught. Come on, get over here.”  
  
Hugo reluctantly took off his boots and waded into the water. Varian giggled a bit and he decided he liked the sound. “You’re really going to swim when you’re all covered up like that? Come on, let’s take off the shirt. No one’s here but you and me.”  
  
“I…” Hugo glanced away. “I’d really rather not, Stripes.”  
  
Varian looked confused. “Why?”  
  
Hugo sighed. “I just…I don’t want to expose my body. I have scars and stuff.”  
  
“I won’t judge.” Varian coaxed.  
  
Hugo looked back at him. “…It’s…not judgement I’m worried about.”  
  
“Well, it’s just us here.” Varian reminded him. “Do you trust me?”  
  
Hugo looked at the building, then sighed and took off his vest, then his shirt underneath. “Okay.” He said, feeling nervous. He hesitated at his gloves and decided to leave them on. He kept his gaze away from Varian, feeling self-conscious.”  
  
“I wonder what kind of stories these all have?” Varian hummed.  
  
“What?” Hugo blinked.  
  
“Every scar has a story.” He reached out and traced a scar shaped like an “X” on Hugo’s chest.  
  
“Bwuh! Stripes, don’t just—I didn’t say you could _touch_!” Hugo stepped back.  
  
“Sorry.” Varian pulled his hand back.  
  
Hugo sighed and went to put his shirts over with Varian’s clothes before he went back in. “It’s fine.”  
  
“What was that on your back?” Varian asked.  
  
Hugo tensed, moving one hand to his other wrist. “…It’s nothing. Just a tattoo.”  
  
“What’s a ‘tattoo’?” Varian asked.  
  
“It’s a—wait, you don’t know what a—”  
  
“Grew up in a tower.” Varian reminded him.  
  
“Yeah, but you’d think you’d have found out by now. Well, I guess you don’t normally hang around those types of people.” Hugo chuckled a bit. “It’s a picture drawn on your skin with ink that won’t wash away.”  
  
“Wow. Can I get a better look?” Varian asked.  
  
“Uhm…sure.” Hugo turned around, his heart pounding in his chest as Varian, once again, started to touch without asking, tracing the shape of the…tattoo.  
  
“This is the alchemical symbol for the metal ‘iron’, isn’t it?” Varian said with fascination.  
  
“Yeah.” Hugo nodded.  
  
“Because you’re from the Iron Kingdom, right?” Varian grinned. “You still haven’t taught me a dance from there.”  
  
“Well, uh, if you’re done with your swimming around, we can get dressed and I can teach you now.” Hugo suggested.  
  
“Oh, right. I was going to teach you to swim!” Varian remembered.  
  
“We can wait on that—”  
  
“No, you rarely take off your shirt so now is the best time.” Varian slipped back into the water. “Come on, take my hands.”  
  
Hugo reluctantly took his hands and let him lead him out to where it was deeper. “How are you going to demonstrate anything for me?”  
  
“Well, by—”  
  
“Varian? Hugo?”  
  
They looked over to see Rapunzel on the beach. Hugo quickly moved behind Varian, suddenly self-conscious about his back again.  
  
Donella came out to join her, and she noticed their clothes and looked around after lifting Hugo’s shirts, clutching them tightly. Varian held up a hand and waved to them and Donella caught Rapunzel’s attention before pointing at them, Hugo looking out from behind Varian.  
  
“What are you two doing out there?” Rapunzel called.  
  
“Swimming!” Varian replied.  
  
“Hugo, come out of there.” Donella called.  
  
“I’m, uh, learning to swim.” Hugo said nervously.  
  
“Learning to—” Donella sighed heavily. “Fine. But I’m staying out here, just in case. Rapunzel, you can go back to bed.”  
  
“Are you sure?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“Yes, I’ll watch them.” She assured her. “Go on to bed now.”  
  
Rapunzel was about to protest or argue, but a yawn escaped and she blushed before nodding and going back inside. Donella looked at them and beckoned them over to her and they both came over to join her.  
  
“Sorry, we didn’t mean to worry you.” Varian said sheepishly.  
  
Donella gently took Hugo’s hand, noticing he was still wearing his gloves. “What did you tell him?” She asked quietly.  
  
“It’s a tattoo.” He replied just as quietly.  
  
She nodded, gently squeezing his hand. “I’ll be here If you need a quick exit.”  
  
He nodded. “Thanks, Donella.” He smiled a bit. “Really, thanks.”  
  
She sighed and then let go of his hand. “Be careful.”  
  
“Don’t worry, I’ll be with him.” Varian assured her, splashing the water with his tail playfully.  
  
“My advice stands.” She said, raising an eyebrow. “And…have fun.”  
  
Hugo grinned and then went off with Varian. Donella sighed and sat down on the beach to watch them, wrapping her locket’s chain around her hand anxiously.  
  
\--  
  
“Soooo, you two seem really close.” Rapunzel said at breakfast the next morning.  
  
“Hm?” Varian looked up from his food.  
  
“You and Hugo.” She nudged him. “Late-night swimming lessons? Hmmmm?”  
  
Varian blinked at her. “What are you getting at? We were just swimming.”  
  
Hugo, on the other hand, was blushing and focusing intently on his food.  
  
“Hmm…” Rapunzel looked thoughtful.  
  
“Seriously, _what_ are you getting at?” Varian asked.  
  
“Love!” Rapunzel declared.  
  
“Oh boy.” Cassandra slapped her palm to her forehead as both the teenagers sputtered in reaction.  
  
“You know, you two have been so _cute_ together, I should’ve seen this coming!” Rapunzel said cheerfully.  
  
“Why did you need to go swimming at night, anyway?” Eugene asked.  
  
“Because my Moon powers are strongest at night and I was trying out the new water magic.” Varian shrugged. “I was originally alone, but then Hugo came out to check on me and we decided that, to avoid him nearly drowning again, I’d teach him to swim.”  
  
“Well, hey, if it’s a matter of learning to swim, _I_ can teach him!” Eugene grinned. “Come on, Hugo!” He got up and went to the door.  
  
“Uh, no thanks.” Hugo shook his head. “No offense, Flynn, but I don’t…really trust you _that_ much yet.”  
  
“After all we’ve been through together?” Eugene brought a hand to his chest. “Also, it’s _Eugene_. You _know_ this.”  
  
Hugo glanced away. “…Right. Sorry, ‘Gene.”  
  
“Well, that’s better than ‘Flynn’.” Eugene shrugged.  
  
“Come on, Hugo.” Lance walked over to join them. “What’s the matter, huh? Why don’t you trust us?”  
  
“And isn’t the fact that you trust _Varian_ a sign that it’s _love_?” Rapunzel asked slyly.  
  
Hugo got flustered and pushed past them to run outside. Donella sighed and got up to follow him out.  
  
“What’s their deal?” Eugene raised an eyebrow and headed out after them.  
  
Varian sighed. “Rapunzel, we’re just friends. Really. I don’t think he wants that kind of relationship, anyway.”  
  
“What makes you think that?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“He reacted badly to me touching him.” Varian glanced away with a pout.  
  
“Kid’s got baggage.” Cassandra shrugged and started to clean up their dishes from breakfast. “Maybe we should just leave this to Donella. If he likes you like Rapunzel seems to think, he’ll come around.”  
  
Varian looked at the black rock table in front of him. “You think so?” He looked towards the door.  
  
Rapunzel smiled. “We’re sure of it.”  
  
\--  
  
“I doubt that they’ll judge you for it.” Donella said as she gently rubbed Hugo’s back soothingly. “You were a victim, Hugo. Just like they were victims of kidnapping. The only difference is that you have marks on your body as a constant reminder.”  
  
Hugo sighed and hung his head. “I just…what would they think of me? I was…I was a lowly slave, not even a _person_ …”  
  
“Hugo, we have talked about this. You being mistreated by those monsters does _not_ make you less than human.” She moved her hand up to rub at his head. “You’ve been so strong…but, maybe you should stop hiding behind the lies you’ve concocted and start _healing_.”  
  
He sniffled and took off his glasses to wipe at his eyes. “Yeah…maybe. But, I’m scared. I don’t want them to know, Don.”  
  
Donella sighed. “You’re not the only one afraid to tell the truth.” She said softly. “Hugo, do you care for Varian?”  
  
He nodded.  
  
“And do you think he cares for you?” She asked.  
  
He nodded again, blushing a bit.  
  
“Then, do you think he would _really_ cast you aside if he knew what those people _did_ to you?” She asked gently.  
  
He wiped at his eyes again and then hung his head. She sighed and pulled him close, gently rubbing his back. “Oh, Hugo, he wouldn’t. _None_ of them would, I’m sure of it. After all, they’re different from other people. I bet, if they knew, they’d just want to storm in and enact righteous indignant fury on them, like _I_ did that day.”  
  
“You think so?” He asked softly.  
  
She nodded. “I do. I really do.” She gently wiped his tears with her thumb. “So, don’t be afraid of them. Your scars are proof that you _survive_.” She reached up to touch one of the scars on her cheek. “You’re strong, Hugo. So much stronger than you were back then. And you’re not alone.”  
  
He nodded and slowly sat up, wiping at his eyes one more time before putting his glasses back on. “Do you think…something like me is worthy of love?” He asked shakily.  
  
“Oh, Hugo. You are not a ‘something’, you’re a ‘someone’. And yes. Even if I, myself, am…distant…” She sighed. “You know I care about you, don’t you?”  
  
He nodded, giving her a shaky smile.  
  
“Why don’t we go back to the others, hm?” She rubbed his head. He nodded and they got up, heading back to the house.  
  
“Everything okay?” Rapunzel asked as they stepped inside.  
  
“Yeah.” Hugo nodded. “We just needed to talk about some things.” He adjusted his glasses, then walked over to Varian. “Sorry if, uhm...if I upset you by running off. It’s not you, it’s me. I’ve got some…baggage.”  
  
“Didn’t that all wash away?” Varian asked.   
  
“Uhm, no…” Hugo chuckled a bit. “What I mean by ‘baggage’ is… _emotional_ baggage. I’ve been through some shit in my life, and it fucked me up mentally and made me feel like I wasn’t…uhm…worthy of love, I guess.”  
  
Eugene let out a heavy sigh, but decided not to scold him for his language – this time.  
  
“Why would you ever think _that_?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
Hugo tensed a bit, then looked at Donella, who gave him a gentle, encouraging nod. Nodding, he slowly unfastened his jacket and pulled it off, then tugged up his shirt. “Because…of my ‘tattoo’.” He explained, slowly removing his gloves one by one.  
  
“What about it?” Varian asked.  
  
Eugene walked over and sucked in a breath.  
  
“Kid, that’s not a tattoo.” Eugene said with horror. “That’s a—”  
  
“It’s a slave brand.” Hugo said quietly. “Truth is, I can’t teach you any Iron Kingdom dances, because I don’t actually know any. I left the Iron Kingdom when I was little and before that I never went above ground. I was born and raised in the mines of the Iron Kingdom. Donella shut them down and rescued me after she found me there. All I know of the Iron Kingdom is the cruelty of the nobility.”  
  
“What’s a…’brand’?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“It’s, uhm…” Eugene cleared his throat. “Kind of like a tattoo, only more painful to put on and…with really, really bad connotations. It gets burned onto your skin with a specially-shaped hot poker.”  
  
“That’s horrible, why would anyone do that to Hugo?!” Rapunzel cried in alarm.  
  
“Because I was a slave, and they branded slaves.” Hugo sighed. “I was afraid to tell you before.” He showed Varian his wrists. “I thought…you’d turn me away if you knew what I was.”  
  
Varian took his hands in his. “…You thought we’d turn you away because some horrible person locked you away and mistreated you?” He asked softly.   
  
Hugo glanced away. “I didn’t know who I could trust…”  
  
Varian held his hands for a bit longer, then threw his arms around him, pulling him close. “Who you were then doesn’t matter. You’re not a slave, and we’re not Gothel’s children anymore. We’ve both moved on and escaped our captors, and we’re stronger for it.” He pulled back a bit, smiling brightly. “And if you ever need to be reminded that you _are_ worthy of being loved, we’re here to do that.”  
  
“Yeah, don’t go bottling up your emotions thinking that we’ll cast you aside.” Eugene said, as Lance started to bawl like a baby before he ran over and hugged Hugo. “We won’t do that. You’re one of us, and we take care of our own. Man, kid, if I’d known about this…” He paused. “What did they make you do, exactly? Did they ever…you know…touch you?”  
  
“Uh, no, that one guy that had us both captured when I was thirteen would’ve been my first, if you didn’t get there In time.” Hugo admitted sheepishly. “I just…mined stuff. You know, ores and…shit.”  
  
“You mined shit?” Rapunzel asked teasingly.  
  
“What—no.” Hugo looked at her. “I just replaced the word ‘stuff’ with…oh, whatever.” He looked art Lance, who was still hugging him. “You…gonna be okay?”  
  
“Are you?! That’s horrible, how could they do this to you?!” Lance cried. “Are they still doing this to people?”  
  
“Well, no. I killed them.” Donella said calmly. “Of course, _others_ might be, but his particular abusers aren’t. Toppling an entire system was far too ambitious a goal for me that day, when all I wanted was to save Hugo.”  
  
Lance slowly let go of Hugo and wiped at his eyes. “We won’t ever let _anyone_ hurt you like that again, okay? You’re safe with us.”  
  
Varian took Hugo’s gloves and gently pulled them back onto his hands, then took his hands. “The past is past. What’s ahead is the future, our future, together.”  
  
Hugo sighed and nodded. “Thank you. And, no matter what, I’ll stand by you. Even if that rock tries to take you from us for good, we’ll be there to give you all the strength you need to win that fight.”  
  
Varian smiled and nodded. “So…since you’re no longer hiding anything…” He grinned. “Let’s all go swimming, and you should change out of these stuffy clothes.”  
  
Rapunzel clapped her hands together and went to get the clothes she’d made for him. “Donella, you too!”  
  
Donella shrugged in resignation. “Alright.”  
  
Hugo chuckled and then leaned in to kiss Varian’s nose. “Thanks, Stripes.”  
  
Varian blushed pink and stammered a bit as Hugo got up and went into his room, accepting the clothes from Rapunzel as he went. Donella got up and went to join him, accepting her own clothes before they disappeared inside.  
  
Varian moved his hand to his nose. “He keeps doing that…” He said, blushing.  
  
Rapunzel giggled. “You know what you need? A proper date!”  
  
“Didn’t they have one last night?” Eugene asked.  
  
“I mean a dinner date. We can arrange it and stuff!” Rapunzel nodded.  
  
“U-Uhm, let’s…let’s not, we don’t want to push him.” Varian said nervously. “I mean, we’re still new to this whole…thing.”  
  
“Yeah, and they’re teenagers, besides.” Cassandra smirked. “I don’t think _dinner dates_ are something they’d be interested in.”  
  
“Especially since we eat together all the time.” Varian nodded.  
  
“It’s different, though, if it’s romantic!” Rapunzel insisted.  
  
“Rapunzel.” Varian looked at her. “Don’t push him. I mean, he’s still convincing himself that he’s worthy of love, a grand display might be a bit much.” He got up. “I think, for now, I’m going to let him take the lead. Until he feels more comfortable around us as himself, instead of the persona he’s been playing.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded. “Alright.” She smiled. “We’ll let him take the lead.”  
  
Donella and Hugo stepped out of the room together, dressed in the clothes Rapunzel made for them. Rapunzel let out a squeal of delight and ran over to look them over. “They look so GREAT on you!” She said excitedly.  
  
Hugo looked a bit awkward, rubbing his wrists self-consciously as Rapunzel gushed over the island clothes she’d made for them. Varian smiled and got up to walk over and take his hand. “I think you look great.” He assured him.  
  
“You think so?” Hugo smiled.  
  
Varian nodded, then leaned in and kissed his nose before drawing back and escaping outside with a pink face.  
  
Hugo watched him go, blinking in surprise, then laughed and ran out after him. “Hey, Stripes, don’t run away!”  
  
“I’m running!” Varian called back.  
  
“Big, tough Dark King can threaten a city of leaf people but can’t stick around after kissing someone on the nose?!” He caught him around the waist and they fell together, hitting the sand with laughter as they rolled a bit before they stopped, Hugo looking down at Varian.  
  
Varian looked up at him with a shy smile. “You wanna know what this Dark King can do?”  
  
“Do your worst.” Hugo grinned.  
  
Varian reached up and pulled him down, catching his lips with his. Hugo went pink all over and started to draw back, then closed his eyes and leaned into it, wrapping his arms around him as they kissed on the beach.  
  
Rapunzel had to cover her mouth to keep from disturbing them with the adoring squeal she almost let out and Donella ushered her back inside to give them privacy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your past does not define you, as this group is all getting to know well.
> 
> ((A/N: Sorry this took so long! I was struggling to figure out how I wanted to approach this chapter, because I wanted cute Varigo fluff but I also wanted to reveal my headcanon for his dramatic backstory in a way that didn't feel too messy. I hope I did okay! The next chapters will hopefully be much smoother writing.))


	42. 42

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel starts to feel homesick and the sentiment is contagious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

A few days later, the Lorbs surprised the group with a visit to their hut. “ _Frienfloofers_ , Pascal and _Finskloopenhogun_ , we would like to invite you to join us for a dance party tonight.” Alfons said when Varian opened the door.  
  
“A party?” Lance poked his head out of his room. “I love parties!”  
  
“Uh…sure. We’ll be there.” Varian said, raising an eyebrow at the Lorbs. He was pretty sure they didn’t like them, Pascal aside, so what was the angle here?   
  
“Good! We will be waiting!” Alfons said, before they all left.  
  
Varian closed the door again and then looked back at them. “…I think I need to reinforce that fence.”  
  
“They’re very determined little guys who hot real high.” Eugene chuckled, stepping out of his room. “So, we’re going to a party tonight! Fun!”  
  
“Sure, as long as we don’t have to serve the food.” Cassandra rolled her eyes as she left her own room.  
  
Rapunzel, Hugo and Donella all came out of their rooms. “Come on, Cassandra, that’s all in the past. Let’s all go and have a great time!”  
  
“I suggest we test the food for suspicious substances.” Hugo said, walking over and wrap an arm around Varian’s waist and kiss his cheek. “Morning, babe.”  
  
Varian smiled shyly and then stole a quick kiss on the lips before slipping out of his hold and going outside, Hugo quickly following him.  
  
“See?” Eugene chuckled. “They didn’t need your help. Let them go at their pace and now they’re unbearable.”  
  
“Mmm, well, I have firmly instructed Hugo to keep all activities to outside the clothing.” Donella said, walking over to start preparing breakfast while the others made flustered, choked noises. “They may be young, but Hugo is rather eager to teach Varian all about the ways of the adult world.”  
  
“Donella, _please_.” Eugene said with a pained expression. “ _Don’t_ make me worry about him ruining poor Varian’s innocence!”  
  
“Innocence? _What_ innocence?” Cassandra smirked. “ _He’s_ the one going for the lips all the time.”  
  
“Speaking of which, we better go check on them.” Eugene headed outside.  
  
Cassandra sighed heavily. “We need to get off this island, we’re resorting to being entertained by a teenage romance. We’re gonna have to find a new caravan, too.”  
  
“We’re lucky we were able to salvage our things.” Rapunzel nodded, sighing a bit. “And what’s wrong with enjoying Varian’s romantic moments?”  
  
“Watching him and the thief kid is about as enjoyable to me as watching you and Fitzherbert mack lips.” Cassandra assured her, then headed outside.  
  
Rapunzel sighed. “She just hasn’t had a positive romantic experience.” She looked at Donella. “Her one time experiencing love was with, well, Andrew. And he was just _using_ her! I mean, she was using _him_ , too, but…”  
  
Donella shrugged. “Then, was it actually love?”  
  
“What about you?” Rapunzel asked. “Have _you_ ever been in love?”  
  
Donella sighed, looking at the ceiling. “Once.”  
  
“What happened?” Lance asked.  
  
“She got married and had Varian.” Donella smiled sadly and then focused on her cooking.  
  
“…Oh.” Rapunzel breathed. “Oh, Donella…then, when you had to…it must’ve been _so painful_ …”  
  
“I lost my best friend and the only person I’ve ever loved that day.” Donella said softly. “Don’t…don’t tell Varian, I don’t know how he’d take it.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded, while Lance was looking like he was going to cry at her sacrifice.  
  
\--  
  
“So, did the leaf-guy say if we had to bring anything to the party?” Hugo asked as he swam alongside Varian, who was drifting along lazily in his Mer form.  
  
“Nope.” Varian shrugged.  
  
Eugene swam over to them and playfully splashed them. “Well, should we bring anything, anyway?”  
  
Varian raised an eyebrow, then flicked his wrist before Eugene got splashed by a big wave, which Hugo laughed at. He went down, then came back up with a pout. “Nah, might insult them.”  
  
“Hey!” Cassandra called to them from the shore. “If you three don’t come back in, we’re gonna eat your breakfast!”  
  
“What?! No way!” Hugo swam back to her.  
  
Varian smiled as he watched him go. After he’d revealed his brand and told them all about his past, Hugo had gotten a lot more comfortable around them. Still, he suspected that once they were off the island, he’d keep his gloves and shirt on full-time. He hummed to himself as he considered if there might be a way to undo what had been done to him. Maybe with the Sundrop’s healing magic, once it was restored?   
  
He was sure that, if science held the answer, Donella would’ve found it already.  
  
“Race you back!” Eugene said, taking off.   
  
Varian swam after him, overtaking him easily with his Mer form. He got back to the beach and restored his body, then used his powers to dry himself off before he got dressed, removing the black rocks that covered his lower half once he was properly covered.  
  
“I need to teach you how to swim _without_ the Mer form.” Eugene smirked as he got up onto the beach. “Dry me off?”  
  
Varian used his powers to dry off both Eugene and Hugo and then waited for them to both get on their shirts and shoes before they headed in for breakfast.  
  
\--  
  
The Lorb party was nice enough. They all sat in a circle while Lance danced around, Cassandra and Donella sat with their birds of prey and the other two couples were just sitting and enjoying the music, up until they both got up and decided to join the dancing, dancing together and trading off partners before Lance stole Eugene away mid-dance and they danced in a goofy way before Eugene sat down to grab a drink.  
  
“Boy, Lorbs sure do know how to party!” He said as Hugo stumbled over and sat next to him.  
  
“Hah, you said it.” Hugo nodded, taking a sip of his drink.  
  
“Phew!” Rapunzel laughed as she stumbled with Varian, the two of them nearly falling while dancing around.  
  
“Okaaay, enough dancing. I need some air.” Varian chuckled.  
  
“Me too.” Rapunzel nodded and they both stumbled out of the firelight together, giggling.  
  
They walked out to the outskirts of the town and she pointed to the lanterns. “Hey, let’s go look at the different designs people put on the lanterns!”  
  
Varian chuckled and nodded and they walked over together, Ruddiger and Pascal following them.  
  
“Oh, look at this one!” Rapunzel said, walking over to look at one. “They embroidered my name on it!”  
  
Varian smiled softly. “You were really loved. You _are_ really loved.”  
  
He reached up to touch one of the lanterns, briefly feeling a twinge of envy. He’d never had any lantern sent out for him; he’d never been missed so much by anyone but his father. Even now, he knew that he was only considered as extra by anyone outside of the castle. Maybe even the staff.   
  
He didn’t even get his birthday celebrated by the castle.  
  
“And this must be…a…a portrait of whoever made it.” Rapunzel said, not seeming to notice his mood changed. “Aw, they look so sad…”  
  
He was being stupid. Why would he be getting jealous of this, it’s not like he was even known to anyone but his dad before his kidnapping.   
  
“And this is…uh…I don’t know what it is.” Rapunzel admitted.  
  
Besides, he had lived six years with their beloved princess, six years that they sent out lanterns hoping they would lead her home. He didn’t have the right to feel jealous about her getting lanterns sent out for her. And it was stupid, anyway, because they would’ve never been able to return to their families if these lanterns were never sent out.  
  
“I still can’t get over how _many_ there are.” Rapunzel said as she continued to look at the lanterns.  
  
“You were missing for eighteen years.” Varian reminded her.  
  
She stopped to looked at a lantern that Pascal accidentally ripped trying to climb on it. “Oh, this one has a letter in it!”  
  
Varian walked over to her as she pulled it out to unroll it. “It’s your father’s crest.” He said thoughtfully.  
  
“’My dearest Rapunzel…it’s been seven years since I last held you in my arms. In that seven years, not a moment passes that I don’t think of you, about how I would give anything to hold you, just one more time.’” She faltered, then kept reading. “’Though I still imagine you as the baby we lost, I know, wherever you are, you’ve grown. But, no matter how long you are away, or how far you go, know that Corona will always be your home’.” She wiped at her eye. “Oh, dad…”  
  
“Do you think he’s okay?” Varian asked softly.  
  
“I don’t know…” She walked away, clutching the letter to her chest. “I miss them, Varian.”  
  
He nodded, walking after her. “Me too.”  
  
They walked back to the party, her hand finding Varian’s gloved one and holding it tight. He smiled softly and squeezed her hand before they both looked forward.  
  
“When did your hand get so big?” She asked softly.  
  
He blinked and looked at her. “Probably when I turned fifteen?”  
  
She held his hand close to her face. “So many years…”  
  
“…Oh. You’re feeling melancholy.” He nodded. “I get it.”  
  
They walked back to where the others were watching Lance dancing long after everyone else had stopped and took their seats, still holding hands as Rapunzel clutched at her letter. Pascal nuzzled her worriedly and Ruddiger chittered with concern.  
  
“Hey, Blondie!” Eugene smiled as she sat down next to him.  
  
“Welcome back!” Hugo grinned.  
  
Eugene hopped to his feet. “May I have this dance, milady?”  
  
“Didn’t you have enough earlier?” Cassandra asked, smirking at him.  
  
Rapunzel gripped the letter, then handed it to Varian before she let go of his hand and took Eugene’s. “You bet.” She said with a forced smile.  
  
“What’s that?” Hugo asked, scooting next to Varian after Rapunzel left the spot empty.  
  
“A letter sent in a lantern from when Rapunzel was seven years old.” Varian said softly. “Mom was still alive then.”  
  
Hugo sighed and held Varian’s hand. “Well…” He sighed. “I mean, she’s not… _dead_ , y’know? Just…trapped.”  
  
“I know, but…I mean, she was…still human. Still with us.” Varian sighed. “It’s…I don’t know how to feel about it. She’s alive, but she’s…not? She’s…” He shook his head and looked towards Rapunzel, who was looking longingly at a family of Lorbs.   
  
“I, um, I just need a moment.” Rapunzel said, leaving Eugene’s side. Varian got up as she walked to the side and walked over to join her, silently handing her the letter again.  
  
Eugene walked over to them. “Blondie?” Rapunzel gasped and tucked the letter into her skirt pocket before she wiped at her eye. “Is…everything alright with you two?”  
  
“It’s just these lanterns,” Rapunzel admitted, looking at them sadly, “all the celebrating, they remind me of home.” She sighed. “I was so excited to see the world that I guess I never really thought about how much I would miss everyone. Even with us sending letters…” She whimpered. “We haven’t heard back from them since they said there was an attack from the Saporians…”  
  
“I’m sure they’re okay.” Eugene assured her. “We’ll send Owl with another letter. And you’re just feeling a little homesick, and that’s normal. By tomorrow morning, you’ll be just fine.”  
  
Rapunzel sighed, looking doubtful.  
  
\--  
  
She was still feeling doubtful the next morning, and sat in her room with the letter, feeling depressed. Pascal tried in vain to get her to cheer up, even trying to push her cheeks to make her lips turn up, but they dropped quickly.  
  
“Varian, you’re her brother. Can’t you help her cheer up?” Eugene asked quietly as they sat on the couch, waiting for Lance to finish making breakfast.  
  
“She’s not the _only_ one feeling homesick, and she’s right. We don’t know if the Saporians have done anything worse to Corona, or if our loved ones are safe.” Varian sighed, curling up. “Now _I’m_ worried…”  
  
“Great, now there’s two of them.” Cassandra said, though she was also looking worried.  
  
Eugene felt a bit bad. He’d been so focused on Rapunzel that he forgot that Cassandra also had a loved one back in Corona to miss. He got up and walked over to sit next to her. “Hey…if you’re feeling homesick too, it’s okay to admit it. Nothing wrong with missing family and friends.”  
  
She smiled a bit, then sighed, getting up. “I have faith in my father, in the Royal Guard, and confidence that Corona is fine. And there’s no point in wasting time on being homesick, because I know he’ll be waiting to see me when I return triumphantly.”  
  
Rapunzel stepped out of the room. “I’m…going for a walk.”  
  
“Want someone with you?” Varian asked.  
  
“No, I…not this time, Varian. I need some time to myself.” She said, heading out through the doorway.  
  
Varian sighed. “Okay…”  
  
\--  
  
Rapunzel looked around as she walked around the island with Pascal on her shoulder. “You’re right, Pascal,” she said, feeling her spirits lightened a bit by her walk, “it’s gorgeous.” She stopped to watch a couple dolphins in the distance with a soft sigh, then looked around. “The whole island is.”  
  
She heart the sound of bells distantly chiming and then drumming and humming and looked around. “Do you hear that?” She asked, walking towards the source. Her search took her to a cliff, with a little opening through it, and she walked the narrow path until she found the cause of the sound, a strange, glowing green object lying in the grass. She reached down and picked it up curiously and the glowing stopped as soon as she touched it.  
  
“Huh.” She mused. “That’s curious.” She brushed off moss or something that was on it and stared down at the totem underneath. “What _is_ this?”  
  
The eyes on the totem started to glow green as she held it and she barely heard Pascal squeak in alarm but ignored it.  
  
“Rapunzel…”  
  
That couldn’t be. She couldn’t have heard him. She stood up and turned to see her father approaching her. “Dad?” She breathed. “How—How did you—I mean, what are you—” She cast aside the questions for the most important part. “Oh!” She cried out happily. “You’re _here_!”  
  
She ran to him and he wrapped his arms around her as she buried her face in his broad chest. “Rapunzel, how I’ve missed you.” He said softly.  
  
“Oh, I’ve missed you so much!” She cried out happily, then pulled back to smile up at him. “I wish I would’ve known you were coming! I would’ve planned a whole celebration with activities and games and a welcome banner, like, a _giant_ welcome banner!” She held her hands up to emphasize it.  
  
He laughed with pure delight. “Rapunzel, there’s no need for that. Seeing you again is all that matters.” He took her wrists gently, taking care not to knock the totem out of her hands.  
  
“You have _no_ idea how _happy_ this makes me.” She smiled up at him. “Since I found your letter attached to the lantern, I’ve been so homesick.”  
  
She hugged him. “But, now that you’re here and—” She stopped short. “Wait, wait, wait.” She pulled back. “ _How_ did you get here?”  
  
“Don’t worry about that.” King Frederic assured her, then held her hand gently, moving it to rest on the totem again with her other hand. “Just know that, as long as you hold this statue, I’ll always be here.” Rapunzel started to put the totem into her bag. “You’ll _never_ have to feel that sadness again.”  
  
She looked up and realized he was gone. Confused, she looked around and saw no sign of him. “…What? Did that just happen? Pascal?”  
  
Pascal let out a confused squeak.  
  
\--  
  
“We got a visual.” Cassandra said as Owl and Hawk flew circles around each other to indicate they’d seen Rapunzel coming back. “She’s coming.”  
  
“Alright, did everyone sign the cheer-up card for Rapunzel?” Eugene asked, turning to the others.  
  
“Signed, and I even added a drawing!” Varian said cheerfully.  
  
“Everyone’s signed it.” Donella assured him.  
  
“Great!” Eugene nodded, turning back towards Rapunzel as she approached in the distance.  
  
“Hi, guys!” Rapunzel said, coming up to them cheerfully.  
  
“Hey, look who cheered up.” Cassandra remarked.  
  
“Yep!” Rapunzel said as she ran past her.  
  
“Wow, she cheered up quick.” Hugo remarked. “Guess all she needed was a walk.”  
  
“Sorry, Hugo, but that’s not why I’m so happy!” Rapunzel said cheerfully. “Wait until you see why!” She pulled out a totem from her bag. “It is the most _incredible_ thing ever!”  
  
She held it up and they all stared at it blankly.  
  
“I give it a seven for effort.” Hugo shrugged.  
  
She suddenly gasped and turned to look at the flower next to her. “It’s so good to see you, dad!” She hugged the flower.  
  
Hugo raised an eyebrow and looked at Donella. “Did she…uh…?” He spun his finger next to his head.  
  
“No, look. The totem she’s holding is glowing. This must be some kind of magic.” Donella mused.  
  
“See?” Rapunzel looked back at them. “I mean, can you _believe_ it?!”  
  
Varian raised an eyebrow. “See… _what_?”  
  
“See—it’s my dad, of course! Why aren’t you more amazed by this?!” She asked in disbelief, then paused and looked at the flower, then at them. “One second.” She looked back at the flower. “Why can’t they see you?”  
  
“You know, Hugo, you might be right.” Lance remarked nervously.  
  
Donella sighed heavily, rolling her eyes.  
  
“Wait a minute!” Rapunzel realized. “Maybe you have to be _holding_ it to see him!” She ran over and handed the totem to Eugene.  
  
He looked at it curiously, then chuckled when it started to glow. “Blondie, I think your homesickness _might_ be getting to your—” He stopped short, looking behind him. “Sweet tomatoes! The royal yacht!” He turned to them. “And, look! My likeness is carved upon its wondrous bow.” He started to walk into the water. “Now we can get off the island and set sail!”  
  
The others exchanged odd looks and Varian sighed and used black rocks to block his way before he went too deep. He bumped into it and dropped the totem in surprise. “Whoa.” He blinked, looking at the rock in front of him as it lowered. “Uh…where’d the yacht go?”  
  
Cassandra walked over and picked it up. “Alright, that’s enough playing, Fitzher…” She faltered and looked to the side. “Dad? You’re here?” She laughed happily and ran over to the side. “You want to spar? Alright!” She grabbed a sword and started to act like she was fighting someone.  
  
“So…totem makes you loopy.” Hugo remarked.  
  
“Want a turn?” Varian asked with a smirk.  
  
“No thanks.” Hugo made a face.  
  
Cassandra suddenly ran at them and didn’t even seem to see them. Varian snatched the totem from her hand and she stopped, acting startled. “Wait…huh?”  
  
“Hm.” Varian mused. “Apparently, it doesn’t work if you wear gloves.”  
  
“Uhm, can I have that back?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“Why, so you can hallucinate your dad and nearly stab me again?” Varian raised an eyebrow.  
  
The totem was snatched away by Maximus and Varian gave him a look of disbelief as he ran off and started hallucinating, tossing rocks into a tree over and over.  
  
“Seriously?” Varian groaned.  
  
He noticed that anyone that had the totem briefly was now sitting around or standing around with a goofy, expectant smile on their faces. ‘An interesting side-effect.’ He thought, looking over at Rapunzel. He failed to notice Lance going to grab the totem until it was too late and then Maximus was staring blankly while Fidella nudged him.  
  
Ruddiger chittered on Varian’s shoulder and he frowned. “I don’t think so, you’re not taking a turn with the happy-rock.” The raccoon pouted and he gave him a loving scritch of his fur.  
  
“I wonder what _I_ would see?” Donella mused.  
  
“Donella.” Varian looked at her.  
  
“You have to admit, it’s fascinating. It’s worth trying it just once.” She shrugged.  
  
“Donella, Lance is pouring sand into his mouth.” Hugo said flatly.  
  
Donella shrugged again. “Allow me to indulge myself just once.”  
  
Varian sighed and watched as Donella walked over to take it from Lance.  
  
She held it close, then gasped softly. “U-Ulla?” She breathed. “You’re here? I..I thought…”  
  
“Oh boy.” Hugo cringed.  
  
Varian walked over to take it back, but Rapunzel got there first and took it from her. “It’s my turn again!”  
  
“What are you talking about, you’ve had lots of time with it! Let me have my yacht again!” Eugene insisted.  
  
“Your yacht?! I want my dad!” Cassandra said firmly.  
  
“Give it back to me!” Donella went after the totem.  
  
Lance was spitting up sand and couldn’t go after it and Fidella was holding onto Maximus’ reins.  
  
“Are you kidding me?” Varian hissed as the fighting continued.  
  
“I found it, so it’s mine!” Rapunzel cried.  
  
“Seriously, you’re going with _that_ logic?” Cassandra said angrily.  
  
“What are you, four?!” Donella demanded.  
  
Hugo glanced at Varian, noticing his body was trembling, his eyes shut tightly.  
  
“You don’t understand, I _need_ —” Rapunzel started.  
  
“ENOUGH!” Varian yelled, black rocks wrapping around every last one of the totem-afflicted group. He walked over and snatched the totem from Rapunzel, stepping back with glowing eyes. “Look at yourselves! This is stupid! It’s a rock that shows you lies! Rapunzel, Cassandra, your dads are back in Corona waiting for you to come home and _not_ kill each other fighting over a stupid rock! Eugene, the Royal Yacht is not here, I’m sorry. Donella…” He sighed. “My mother isn’t here. You know that.”  
  
She sighed, hanging her head. “I…underestimated the…addictive qualities of being faced with our greatest desire. I…I just want to see her again…”  
  
“I think it’s made of wood, actually.” Hugo remarked.  
  
“What?” Varian looked at him.  
  
“The totem. It’s made of wood.” Hugo shrugged. “Not that I’m going to touch it to know for sure, but most totems are made of wood.”  
  
“Whatever.” Varian sighed and opened his satchel to put the totem inside. “I’m going to the Lorbs to find out what this thing is. Hugo, Fidella, I’m leaving them in your care.”  
  
“Varian, _please_!” Rapunzel cried. “I just want to see my father again! Don’t you want me to be happy?”  
  
“With an artificial happiness that can vanish as easily as you tripping and letting go of it?!” Varian snapped. “The lies you are letting yourself be told by this thing slip through your fingers as easy as sand, and you’re _going_ crazy trying to hold onto it! _All_ of you are! Donella, you had it for only a few moments and you’re _desperately_ fighting to try to take it back! If I didn’t use the black rocks, you’d all be charging at me trying to get it back!”  
  
“Varian!” Eugene struggled in the rocks. “Come on, buddy!”  
  
Varian shook his head. “I’ll be back. Come on, Pascal.” He knelt to pick up Pascal and then turned and headed into the jungle, ignoring their cries and pleas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's the deal with the totem?


	43. 43

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian takes care of the trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

The Lorbs were surprised and alarmed to see him coming to their village alone, until they realized he had Pascal and his Dark Spirit – that’s how the name they’d given Ruddiger was apparently translated – with him. “I need to see Alfons.” He said before anyone could say anything. “Now!”  
  
They scrambled away to find their leader and he sighed, rubbing at his head with a groan. He _really_ didn’t like these guys.  
  
“ _Finskloopenhogun_ , why have you come here without invitation?” Alfons asked, walking up to him and standing on the top of a ladder of Lorbs.  
  
Varian knelt down and pull out the totem, keeping a firm grip on it. “Do you recognize this?”  
  
The Lorbs all gasped in alarm. “Sweet _Goginslpotz_!” Alfons looked up at him. “Where did you _find_ this?!”  
  
“Rapunzel found it. I just took it from her and most of our group, they were fighting over it. Apparently, it shows you your greatest desire in the form of a hallucination?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
“Yes, how did…oh. You have hand-coverings.” Alfons realized. “That is very wise of you, _Finskloopenhogun_.”  
  
“Right, yeah. So, tell me about this thing.” He sat down cross-legged in front of him.  
  
“It is a good thing that you took it from them.” Alfons said grimly. “ _That_ is the idol of _Vershaftsbezeigungengien_. The longer someone holds it, the stronger its grip on them will become.”  
  
“Yeah, it’s addictive, I got that.” Varian nodded.  
  
“Yes, by taking it you have saved their lives. The idol of _Vershaftsbezeigungengien_ destroys _all_ who pursue it.” Alfons explained. “The idol was created by a mystical Lorb warlock, Horb. It was Horb’s dream to eliminate sadness and the idol was the fruit of that quest. Though his intentions were noble, Horb never considered that sadness is a much-needed emotion.”  
  
“Yeah.” Varian nodded. “So, what happened?”  
  
“The idol’s magic backfired,” Alfons said with a chilling voice, “and poisoned the minds of every Lorb he loved. His only hope was to perform a cleansing ritual atop the temple of Torb but, before he could, Horb lost the idol, dooming himself to a lifetime of sadness! If it is not stopped, the same fate awaits all of you.”  
  
“Alright.” Varian put the totem back in his back. “So, how do we do this ritual?”  
  
“The only way to be _truly_ free of the idol is to know that happiness does not come from a thing, but from within your heart.” Alfons went on.  
  
“Alfons.” Varian sighed. “I have them all secure, _how_ do I do that ritual?”  
  
“I will take the idol to the temple and perform the ritual.” Alfons held out his hands for it.  
  
“Yeah, uh, _you’re_ not wearing hand-coverings.” Varian raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Chorb! Dorb!” Alfons clapped his hands. “The Graufenmittens!”  
  
A couple Lorbs came over to him with cooking gloves and Varian chuckled a bit. “I think I’ll still hold onto it until we get there. Don’t want one of the Lorbs to touch it by accident and turn on us.”  
  
“Hm, a wise thought, _Finskloopenhogun_.” Alfons nodded. “Let us make haste, then!”  
  
Varian nodded and they headed off to the temple of Torb together. “Hey, what did you mean by ‘poisoned their minds’? I mean, besides it being addictive, what happens if they have it for too long?”  
  
“Their vision will warp into a nightmare.” Alfons said grimly. “And then they will become truly obsessed, even when they are not holding it, in their desperation to have the dream back.”  
  
“Oh, joy. Good thing I caught them when they first got it, then.” Varian sighed heavily.  
  
“If I may ask, _Finskloopenhogun_ , how did you not feel the allure to hold it without hand-coverings?” Alfons asked curiously.  
  
“I’m a man of logic, and I’m not so desperate as to reach for an artificial happiness that can be swiped away in moments.” He sighed. “I thought Donella was the same, but her curiosity got us into trouble, just like when she painted the sun on Pascal’s stomach.” He tried not to think of the fact that she was calling out his mother’s name. Would he _also_ see her, if…?  
  
Focus on the mission, Varian. He pursed his lips and looked forward as they approached the temple.  
  
“Up there there is the altar.” Alfons said as he pointed to the top of the temple.  
  
Varian sighed. “Alright…what do I need to do?” He asked.  
  
“ _Finskloopenhogun_ , I said that _I_ would—”  
  
“I would actually like for _all_ of you to stay down here. I’ll secure this place with my black rocks to keep you from entering. I can’t count on this thing not activating and making anyone else that could be affected by it attack me. So, what do I have to do once I’m up there?”  
  
“You must set it upon the altar, then destroy it.” Alfons said, nodding firmly. “Be careful, _Finskloopenhogun_. The totem may attempt to reach out to your mind to defend itself, hand-coverings or not.”  
  
“Alright.” Varian nodded and started up the steps, focusing. His hair and eyes glowed as he created black rocks around the temple that rose into the air as he did, creating a dome that only had a little hole at the very top of the temple for light. He silently climbed the stairs, surrounded by the darkness of the black rocks.  
  
“ _Varian…_ ”  
  
He heard a voice call his name, but ignored it.  
  
“ _Varian…_ ”  
  
He shook his head and kept climbing, ignoring the green glow coming from his bag, the chiming sounds and the drumming beats. He would not be tempted by false happiness, by lies of something that he couldn’t keep.  
  
“ _Varian…_ ”  
  
“My happiness is my friends and family, who I am going to free from you, so don’t even _try_ to tempt me.” He said sharply.  
  
He got up to the top of the temple and approached the altar. Here was the hard part. He was going to have to take it out of his bag now, which meant that he’d have to touch it, gloves or not. He sat down in front of the altar and reached into his bag to pull out the totem, which was still glowing.  
  
He tensed as he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. “No.” He said firmly, setting the totem down on the altar. “I’m not looking.” He picked up the rock left at the side of the altar.  
  
“Varian…” His father said softly. “Please, look at me.”  
  
“No.” Varian shook his head. “You’re not real.”  
  
“But I’m _here_.” He felt a smaller hand rest on his shoulder and closed his eyes.  
  
“Varian,” his mother’s voice, he hadn’t heard it in so very long but he knew it, spoke softly in his ear, “won’t you look at me?”  
  
“No.” He said stubbornly.  
  
“You’ve grown up so big. Don’t you miss me? Don’t you miss _both_ of us? We can finally be together as a family. Just…take off your gloves and hold the idol.” She coaxed him.  
  
He shook his head firmly. “No!”  
  
“My precious son…” Her arms were around his shoulders now, and he saw his father’s hand resting on his, the one holding the rock. “Please, don’t leave us. We just want to be with you, forever.”  
  
“You’re not _real_. You’re just illusions created by dark magic!” Varian said firmly.  
  
“If you stay with us, then the Moon will never take you.” Quirin said enticingly. “You won’t have to fear her.”  
  
Varian sighed heavily. “Sorry, ‘dad’, but I would rather face her than be trapped in an illusion for the rest of my life.” He tried to pull his hand free. “Let go.”  
  
“No.” Quirin held onto his hand tighter.  
  
“Fine.” He closed his eyes and focused. A black rock stabbed through the totem and both his ‘parents’ cried out in horror. He opened his eyes and looked up as a burst of white light came from it and went up through the hole in the dome, disappearing into the sky.  
  
He sighed, then looked back at the totem. “…Huh. What do you know, it _is_ wood.”  
  
He slowly, shakily stood up and brought a hand to his head. Did he make the right choice, not looking at them? That may have been the last chance he ever had to see his mother, his _real_ mother. No…he needed to be strong; if he’d looked at them, then he knew that he would’ve fallen for the spell just like the others. He sighed and started down the stairs, the dome lowering to the ground as he walked. When he reached the bottom, the rocks disappearing into the ground, he was met with cheering from the Lorbs.  
  
“You did it, _Finskloopenhogun_!” Alfons said excitedly. “You did it!”  
  
“Yeah. You weren’t kidding about it trying to fight me, I had to summon my rocks to destroy it because the visions were actually physically holding me down.” Varian shivered. “But, it’s over. I’m going back to free the others from my rocks and then…I think I deserve a nap.”  
  
“Rest well, _Finskloopenhogun_. And thank you.” Alfons nodded. “You’re not so bad, for a _Finskloopenhogun._ ”  
  
“Aw, and you’re actually kind of sweet, for a human-enslaving leaf person.” Varian smiled wryly, then looked at Pascal and Ruddiger, who had remained at the bottom. “Let’s go back, guys.” He knelt down and they both climbed onto him before he headed back to the house.  
  
\--  
  
“Hey, welcome back!” Hugo said as Varian came back.  
  
“Are you all feeling better?” Varian asked, walking up to the rock-encased group.  
  
“Yes.” Cassandra sighed. “Sorry about…all that.”  
  
“No, _I_ should be the one apologizing. I brought it to all of you.” Rapunzel insisted.  
  
Varian lowered the rocks. “Right. I’m going to go lie down and sleep, you guys do…whatever. As long as it doesn’t involve dark island magic.”  
  
“What _was_ that thing, anyway?” Donella asked curiously.  
  
“I’ll give you a full report after I sleep.” Varian walked inside.  
  
“Uhm, right, Rapunzel.” Eugene picked up the card they all signed. “We made this for you, to cheer you up. We all know how homesick you’ve been feeling, and…apparently, so has Cassandra. I know it’s not much, and it’s certainly not a magical vision totem, but…”  
  
She smiled and accepted the card. “Thanks, everyone. But…” she sighed, “Varian’s right. We were all being foolish, clinging to visions of our greatest desires, but we don’t _need_ visions to be happy, to have them with us.” She placed her hand on her chest. “They’ll always be here.”  
  
Donella nodded. “But, we _can_ send another message to Corona, if you’d like.”  
  
Rapunzel and Cassandra nodded.  
  
\--  
  
That night, they sat and watched Hawk and Owl take off for Corona together, both of them carrying letters from daughters that were feeling painfully homesick and a young sort-of-adopted-son that wanted to send a message home.  
  
“Well…” Varian sighed, looking up at the sky. “Ferry should be here soon, judging by the phases of the moon.”  
  
“You gonna miss this place?” Eugene nudged him with a grin.  
  
“I think so. Kind of. Was fun being called ‘Dark King’ all the time and scaring the locals into not enslaving you.” Varian sighed. “But…I’m not looking forward to meeting the _real_ Dark King…”  
  
Eugene nodded. “Yeah…but, we’ll be okay.”  
  
“You think so?” Varian smiled at him.  
  
“Come on, guys!” Rapunzel waved to them. “Alfons invited us to another party!”  
  
Eugene smiled. “Yeah. We’ll be okay.”  
  
They headed over to the others, where Eugene left Varian’s aside as he went to Rapunzel’s, being replaced by Hugo.  
  
“So…” Hugo gently squeezed his hand. “How you feeling?”  
  
Varian sighed, thinking of the vision he’d forced himself to ignore. “…Lonely.”  
  
“Well, maybe I can fix that tonight.” Hugo said, his lips inches from Varian’s ear.  
  
Varian blushed and turned to him. “Uhm—uh—not _that_ kind of—”  
  
“Relax.” Hugo grinned and kissed his nose. “I’m just teasing. Besides, Donella told me to keep it in my pants until we’re both adults.”  
  
“Pft, if I _live_ that long.” Varian rolled his eyes and they walked off to the Lorb village together, following the others.  
  
\--  
  
With the ferry on the way, they decided to try to salvage the caravan. To their surprise, the Lorbs offered to help them repair it and worked with Varian, Donella and Hugo to do so while the others gathered up more food to restock the food crate with.  
  
“Any chance you can reinforce this thing with black rocks?” Hugo asked as they worked.  
  
“Maybe if we put dirt on it, I could convert that into black rocks and spread out from there.” Varian mused. “But, do we want a black caravan?”  
  
“I said ‘reinforce’, not cover it. But…that’s actually kind of badass.” Hugo said thoughtfully. “Hey, Princess!” He looked up at where she was sewing some new clothes for when they left the island.  
  
“Yes, Hugo?” She asked curiously.  
  
“I was wondering if it’d be okay if Stripes just covered our caravan with black rocks, to avoid it breaking apart again?” He grinned.  
  
“Oh, that’s a great idea!” Rapunel said with delight. “Oh, but can the black rocks be painted?”  
  
“We haven’t really tried, have we?” Varian mused. “It’s worth a try!”  
  
“Let’s do it!” Rapunzel nodded.  
  
“Black-rock swords, black-rock caravan, we’re gonna be _perfect_ for the Dark Kingdom.” Eugene remarked.  
  
Varian chuckled. “Yeah.”  
  
\--  
  
When the ferry arrived a few days later, they all packed up the newly-repaired and reinforced caravan. They hadn’t tried painting it yet, so it was black and reflective still, but it was in one piece and that’s what mattered. “We’ll get some more paint in the next town.” Varian assured Rapunzel as they loaded the caravan onto the ferry.  
  
“You know, my little _Schlutchowsen_?” Alfons to a younger Lorb with him said as they followed them to see them off. “For as disgusting, loutish and incredibly unsightly as they were, I’m going to miss those stupid _freinfloofers!  
  
_ “Aww, and as rude, spiteful and culty as you all were, I’m sure we’re gonna miss you, too.” Varian said, looking over at him.  
  
“Well, I’m so glad the ferry’s here, so we can finally get off this island.” Rapunzel said as she turned to Eugene.  
  
“And when we get back on land, we’ll be able to continue on our journey!” Eugene said, smiling at the caravan.  
  
Varian looked over at the house still on the beach and then looked at the others. “Everyone got everything out of the house, right?”  
  
“Yep, completely empty.” Hugo nodded.  
  
“Okay.” Varian nodded and held out a hand. The house glowed before it slowly lowered into the ground with the fence, the beach empty like it had never been there. “Not taking any chances. Maybe I’ll rebuild it after I get the Moonstone, but…not yet.”  
  
“Come on.” Hugo smiled and then they walked over to where the crew were focusing on getting ready.  
  
Rapunzel noticed a man lighting candles and walked over. “Oh my, that’s quite an interesting odor.”  
  
“It’s a Genella torch.” The man explained, then blew out the candle. “The smell of the pompoen fruit draws the firefly.” He turned to her. “This torch keeps it away.”  
  
The firefly flew over to their ship, then jerked back and flew away with an alarmed squeak after getting a whiff of the candle. The man chuckled. “See that? They can’t stand it. Alright then!” He pulled out a pocket watch. “Prepare to set sail!”  
  
Pascal decided to eat a fly buzzing hear him and he freaked out when he saw his tongue. “Ahh, what is that?!”  
  
“What?” Rapunzel turned around, then looked at Pascal. “Oh!” She giggled. “It’s just my friend, Pascal!” She held him out for the man to see.  
  
The man whimpered, then screamed in alarm.  
  
“No, no! Don’t be scared!” She drew him back and put him on her shoulder. “He’s harmless!”  
  
“I-I’m not scared. It’s just…” he coughed, “I-I don’t like lizards, is all.” He inched around her, then ran off. “Someone get me my sailing pants!”  
  
Rapunzel watched him go, then looked at Pascal. “Sailing pants?”  
  
\--  
  
Varian sighed as he looked out at the sea. If they weren’t worried about him being seen, this would be a beautiful night for swimming. Hugo sidled up next to him and kissed his cheek. “Hey, gorgeous, come here often?”  
  
Varian chuckled. “So cheesy.”  
  
Maximus walked up to them and whinnied and they looked at him. “What?” Hugo asked.  
  
Maximus nodded towards a sign that said “Don’t lean on railing.” They both stepped back from it and he nodded before trotting off.  
  
“Pft.” Hugo chuckled. “C’mon, let’s get back over to the others.”  
  
Varian nodded and they walked off to follow him together.  
  
“Hey, kids.” Eugene walked up to them. “Varian, you remember when we first met?”  
  
“What?” Varian blinked. “Why?”  
  
“Remember when I said that I wanted to own an island?” Eugene chuckled and pointed past them. “Look behind you.”  
  
Varian looked over at the island they were leaving. “Wait, is that the—”  
  
“Yep. That’s the one I wanted to own. But, now that I’ve _lived_ there, I think I want a better one. One _without_ culty leaf people.” Eugene chuckled.  
  
Maximus neighed at them and they looked over. “Okay, we’re coming! Geez.” Eugene rolled his eyes and they started to follow the horse down below. “Whoa, hey, would you look at this?” He stopped and looked at a wanted poster. “This is one of my very first wanted posters!”  
  
“Really? You didn’t start out younger?” Hugo asked.  
  
“I said ‘one of’.” He took it off the wall. “I’ve been looking for one of these to put in the old scrapbook!”  
  
“How long has this ferry been running?” Varian mused. “I mean, that looks like when you were around _my_ age.”  
  
“I know, right?” Eugene said, tucking it into his pocket.  
  
Maximus let out a huff and Eugene smirked. “Aww, still sour about never getting your hooves on ol’ Flynn Rider, huh?” He leaned on the railing.  
  
Varian reached out and yanked him away from the railing. “Eugene, don’t start fights with Maximus when we’re on the ocean. Or Cassandra. Or _anyone_.”  
  
“Fiiiiine.” Eugene rolled his eyes and walked away from them.  
  
“Barely off the island and he’s already getting cabin fever.” Hugo smirked.  
  
Varian sighed and looked up at the dark sky overhead. It felt odd, not seeing Her shining down on him. He still felt her, but not _seeing_ her…that, along with the fog, it was unnerving.  
  
“Kid?” Eugene looked over at Varian and then walked back to him. “Everything okay?”  
  
 _There’s something on the water._  
  
His brow furrowed and he looked around, but didn’t see anything through the fog. He frowned and took off his bag, then unbuckled his belt.  
  
“Kid?” Eugene frowned.  
  
“The Moonstone said there’s something on the water.” He took off his gloves and shirt, then kicked off his boots before he dove into the water.  
  
“Kid!” Eugene dove in after him, not bothering to remove anything.  
  
“Wha—Eugene! You don’t have to—Eugene!” Hugo called after him, then gasped as Maximus also jumped overboard. “Oh, for crying out loud!” He ran off to get help.  
  
Eugene and Maximus ended up meeting in the water and then Varian came back up, raising an eyebrow at them. “What are you guys doing?”  
  
“We—wha—you can’t just _dive off_ like a madman!” Eugene insisted.  
  
Varian raised his tail out of the water and slapped it onto the surface of the water. “ _You’re_ the madman. You didn’t even remove your clothes. That wanted poster is _ruined_ now.” He started to swim away.  
  
“Wait, where are you even going?” Eugene asked as they swam after him.  
  
“Not sure. There’s something in the fog, something the Moonstone warned me about.” Varian looked around, then dove underwater before coming back up.  
  
“Well, our ferry just disappeared _into_ the fog, so…” Eugene shrugged.  
  
“You could’ve left me alone to figure it out.” Varian pointed out.  
  
Maximus grunted and they looked up to see a ship had come out of the fog. “Uh…” Varian blinked up at it. “Well, I guess that’s it.”  
  
They swam over and Varian grabbed onto some rope dangling down and held it taut so they could climb up it. Then he swam around it before coming back to the rope and climbing up it himself, slowly, his Mer tail turning into legs before the black rocks retracted to leave him in pants.  
  
Eugene helped him up when he got to the top, then offered him his wrung-out overshirt. Varian put it on then looked around. “So…what is this?” He asked quietly, using his powers to remove the water from both their clothes and tossing it overboard before rolling up the sleeves of his borrowed shirt.  
  
“Uh…” Eugene cleared his throat. “Judging by the dozens of jail cells down there? A prison barge.”  
  
“From where?” Varian asked.  
  
“Not sure. Let’s see if we can find the Captain.” Eugene suggested.  
  
Maximus let out a discontented grunt and Varian smiled and patted his side before they followed Eugene.  
  
\--  
  
“Princess!” Hugo burst into the room where Rapunzel was playing charades with everyone else. “Princess, uh, Varian jumped overboard because he thought he saw something and then Eugene and the white horse jumped in after him and they’re gone!”  
  
Rapunzel stood up. “Wait, they did _what_?!”  
  
“Varian did _what_?!” Cassandra stood up with disbelief.  
  
\--  
  
“Am I the _only_ one unnerved by the fact that we haven’t _seen_ anyone yet?” Varian asked quietly.  
  
“I’m sure it’s…nothing.” Eugene said, though he was also looking nervous.  
  
“The last of the guards has been taken out.” They heard someone saying, and they all ducked behind boxes to avoid being seen. “The mutiny’s complete!”  
  
“Did he say ‘mutiny’?” Eugene whispered.  
  
Varian frowned and focused, making black rocks cover his hands and forming a black rock sword out of it. Then he handed it to Eugene before he summoned his own knife.  
  
“Thanks.” Eugene said as he accepted it.  
  
Varian nodded, looking out again.  
  
The deck was covered with Lady Caine’s goons, which meant only one thing: This barge was from Corona.  
  
“Great, he _finally_ ships them off and _this_ happens.” Varian hissed as they lowered back down. “Good thing we’re already armed. But, we should find out who all is here before we make any moves.”  
  
Eugene nodded. “What I wanna know is, _where_ is La—”  
  
“The ship is ours, boys!” Lady Caine declared from behind a sail, which she promptly tore a hole into to reveal herself.  
  
“Well, _that’s_ gonna help with sailing.” Varian muttered sarcastically.  
  
“Let’s just…take stock.” Eugene looked out. “Lady Caine…Caine’s goons, Pocket and Otter, that fake painter guy, Dwayne, and…every other bad guy we’ve put away. What, did they just decide to empty out the prisons for spring cleaning?”  
  
Maximus directed their attention to the side and Eugene groaned, “Really? The horse, too?” as he saw Axel.  
  
“Shh!” Varian moved his hand over his mouth when Axel looked up, his ear twitching.  
  
“This boat’s like a who’s who of people that want us _dead_.” Eugene whispered.  
  
“And if you don’t keep it _down_ , they’re going to know we’re _here.”_ Varian hissed quietly.  
 _  
_“Right, sorry.” Eugene sighed. “As far as I can see, the only ones _missing_ are—” He heard the sound of metal in wood and looked out again to see Eyepatch landing next to Axel, his brother walking up to join him. “…The Stabbingtons. Great.”  
  
Varian frowned. “Seriously, what the _fuck_?”  
  
“You’ve spent _way_ too much time around Hugo.” Eugene whispered, then sighed. “Looks like the gang’s all here.”  
  
“Is this everyone, then?” Varian looked at him.  
  
“Yeah, I think so. Why?” Eugene asked.  
  
“Well, then.” Varian looked at Maximus. “We can’t just let this slide, can we?”  
  
“Wait, what?” Eugene frowned.  
  
“It’s a _prison break_ , Eugene.” He stood up.  
  
“No, no, no, no.” Eugene yanked him down. “We do _not_ have to do this, we are _not_ obligated to—” He looked at Maximus, who had pulled out a book called “A Compendium of Corona Law and Procedure”. “What. Is that—you carry this around _everywhere you go_? How is it _not_ ruined by the water?”  
  
Varian accepted the book. “Thank you, Max.” He turned the pages. “Ah, here we go. ‘If you see somebody do something bad, you should do something about it. Such acts include, but are not limited to: vandalism, theft, assault, impersonation, abduction’—”  
  
“Seriously?” Eugene groaned.  
  
“conspiracy, smuggling, burglary—”  
  
“Can we please skip to the part that pertains to _this_ particular moment?” Eugene looked at him.  
  
“Fine.” Varian showed him the book. “’Prison barge mutiny’.”  
  
“Oh, wow, they just…covered _everything_.” Eugene sighed.  
  
“Yeah.” Varian closed the book and handed it back to Maximus, then looked back at the criminals. “They think they’re _safe_ out here?” He grinned and held up a hand, his eyes and hair glowing.  
  
Moments later, tall, wide black spikes came out of the water and surrounded the ship. Then he climbed up on a box and waved. “Hello, criminals of Corona!”  
  
“Varian, what are you _doing_?” Eugene hissed.  
  
“Oh. _You_.” Lady Caine glared up at him.  
  
“Yeah, me.” Varian grinned. “And, guess what? I learned how to control the rocks now! And you know what _else_?” He held out his hands and funnels of water rose up around the ship. “I suggest you all get back in your cells, or this is going to get… _messy_.”  
  
“No way!” Everyone drew their weapons.  
  
“Alright.” He shrugged, then clapped his hands together. The funnels of water slammed down onto the criminals at once, and they screamed as they ran to try to avoid the attack. The braver of them came up after Varian, but Eugene and Maximus were waiting with Eugene’s black-rock sword and Maximus’ superior strength. Varian sat down on the box and started to mime orchestrating as he controlled the water to attack the criminals.  
  
“Fun fact about the moon.” Varian said casually. “It controls the water. Which means that any form of water is not safe from it, from _me_. Combined with the black rocks, you can’t _beat_ me.”  
  
Someone threw a sword at him and he created a black-rock shield to block it. “I’ve had _months_ to practice this stuff, you know! And I think I’ve gotten _pre-tty_ good!” He said cheerfully. “So, are you going to keep fighting, or do you give up? You’re _not_ going to win this.”  
  
“Damn it…” Lady Caine, drenched to the _bone_ , reluctantly lowered her sword. “You’ve certainly grown, _little prince_.” She spat.  
  
“In lots of ways.” He smiled cheerfully. “Let’s get them back in their cells, Eugene, Maximus.”  
  
\--  
  
Lady Caine glowered at him from inside her cell as he stood in front of it, twirling the keys around his finger. “It was just our _luck_ that _you_ happened to be around here.”  
  
“Hey, what can I say? The bad guys always lose.” Varian grinned and went to hang up the keys. “Eugene, are they okay?”  
  
“Pretty beat up, but alive.” Eugene assured him.  
  
“Good.” Varian walked over to look in at the Stabbingtons. “We have _got_ to stop _meeting_ like this! You, me, these bars.” He knocked on them with a grin.  
  
“C’mon, kid, let’s get you back to your sister before she has a panic attack.” Eugene walked over and nudged him.  
  
“We can take it from here, Your Highness.” A guard said, walking over to him. “Thank you for your assistance, and we wish you luck with your mission.”  
  
Varian nodded. “Let’s get back to the others.” He headed up to deck and lowered the black rocks back into the seabed below.  
  
\--  
  
“Captain, _please_ , we have to turn back! My brother—”  
  
“They’re back!” Cassandra called.  
  
Rapunzel gasped and ran out to see Varian climbing over the edge and using his powers to dry himself off before Hugo brought over his clothes for him and he started to get fully dressed. “Varian! Where have you _been_?!”  
  
“Stopping a prison break. The prison barge is over there.” Varian pointed over his shoulder. “Lady Caine and the other criminals of Corona had taken over the thing, so I had to stop them and put them back. Eugene and Max helped.”  
  
She walked over and pulled him into a tight hug. “Please, don’t _ever_ do such a thing without telling me you’re going to do it, again!”  
  
He smiled and hugged her gently. “Okay. Sorry for worrying you, sis.”  
  
Cassandra walked over to him. “Seriously, take me with you next time.”  
  
“Will do!” He grinned up at her. “Though, I didn’t _intend_ to take to take _anyone_ , Eugene and Maximus apparently forgot that the water isn’t a _threat_ to me.” He laughed.  
  
Eugene blushed. “It’s a new thing, okay?!”  
  
Maximus neighed his agreement.  
  
Rapunzel sighed with relief. “Let’s get below deck now.”  
  
They headed down below deck, where Donella was sitting with a book. She looked up at them. “Oh, welcome back. Did you enjoy your swim?”  
  
“I stopped a prison break!” Varian said cheerfully.  
  
“Good job.” She looked back at her book. “Don’t run off without telling anyone again.”  
  
“Yes, Donella.” He grinned sheepishly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's eager to get back onto dry, not island-y land?!
> 
> ((A/N: Keep an eye out for "Reunion at Sea", a fic I'm writing that starts with the premise of Varian being on the prison barge when Eugene and Maximus accidentally hitch a ride on it. It's actually why this took so long, because I remembered when I was writing this that someone (can't remember who) requested it.))


	44. 44

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back on land, the group continue on to the Great Tree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

“Lombard’s Pass.” Rapunzel said, looking through her spyglass. “Looks like it’ll be rough. Especially with those swaying towers of rock…Varian, do you think you could…make the trip easier?” She looked at him.  
  
He looked at it thoughtfully. “Oh, definitely. Just build a bridge between here and there, skip the whole thing.” He nodded, pointing to the cliff that was at the end of the pass.  
  
“Right.” Rapunzel nodded. “Sounds like a plan, then.”  
  
He walked over and took off his gloves, handing them to Hugo, before he knelt down and placed his hands on the ground and focused, his hair and eyes glowing brightly as black rocks started to come out of the ground and form together.  
  
“Gotta say, those rocks may be terrifying when the Moonstone uses them, and sometimes when _he_ uses them, but they _sure_ do come in handy.” Eugene said as he leaned against the caravan.  
  
Varian got up and started to walk along the black-rock bridge, building it slowly as he crossed it and creating walls on each side. “Seriously, though, can you imagine actually trying to _cross_ this madness?” Hugo looked over at the actual trail. “There’s _no way_ the caravan would make it through safely, we’d have to go on foot for the rest of the trip!”  
  
“Eh, take it fast enough, it’s possible.” Eugene shrugged.  
  
“Slow might be better.” Donella remarked.  
  
“Well, luckily, we don’t have to try it.” Rapunzel smiled.   
  
“While we wait, let's work on lunch! I bet he'll be hungry when he gets done!” Lance said cheerfully, going to the food box.  
  
“Let's start a fire, then.” Eugene said, nudging Hugo, and he nodded and then went to get firewood they'd bought while in the last town.  
  
“We're getting closer and closer to that Great Tree that Adira told us about.” Cassandra said, walking over to Rapunzel with the map. “No sign of _her_ , though.”  
  
“She'll show up.” Rapunzel smiled. “For all we know, she's already there waiting for us. We _did_ waste a lot of time on the island.”  
  
“Oh, I wouldn't say we wasted time.” Donella said with a sly smile. “We had fun, didn't we, Pascal?”  
  
“I think Varian had the _most_ fun.” Cassandra smirked. “He _really_ got into the role of the 'dark king'.”  
  
“And Varian and Hugo started _dating_ ~!” Rapunzel squealed. “So adorable!”  
  
“Heh, yeah.” Cassandra sighed. “...I never could've known that Hugo had such a dark past, though. He seems so...happy.”  
  
“I do my best to help him move past it.” Donella nodded, clutching at her necklace under her shirt. “We all have our dark, mysterious pasts, though.”  
  
“Hah, yeah.” Cassandra nodded. “Well, maybe not all of us.”  
  
“Mmm, let me think.” Donella tapped her finger on her cheek. “A lifelong kidnapping victim and slave, a kidnapping victim that has the worst luck with mother-figures—“  
  
“Heeey, my birth mother was a _great_ mother-figure.“ Rapunzel smirked.  
  
“True, true. Arianna is a rose among dandelions in the 'mother-figure' department.” Donella smirked. “Two ex-criminals, one of which spent...how long in prison?”  
  
“Uh...” Rapunzel looked thoughtful.  
  
“...Eight years, he said.” Eugene said quietly.  
  
“And then there's your lady-in-waiting with her _own_ baggage, I'm sure.” Donella chuckled.  
  
“A little.” Cassandra nodded.  
  
“And then there's Hugo and myself.” Donella finished,  
  
“We're a tagtag motley crew.” Hugo nodded as he walked over and set the firewood up.   
  
Eugene nodded and knelt to start the fire. Lance came over with food to prepare lunch and Rapunzel turned to watch Varian creating the bridge. “So...think we're ready to face Hector?”   
  
“...Honestly...I think only Adira could tell us for sure.”  
  
–  
  
After Varian finished building the bridge, they ate lunch and then cleaned up camp to move on down the road. Varian looked at the bridge thoughtfully, then sighed. It was too risky to leave it up, _she_ might drop it with someone on it. So, once they were across, he retracted it, just like he'd done to their beach-house, like it had never been there, and then they moved on.  
  
–  
  
“Absolutely not.” Donella said firmly.  
  
“But, I've never been to the Hamlet of Pincosta before!” Rapunzel insisted.  
  
“Yes, but Flynn Rider _has_ and _I_ have and it's _not_ just a good idea to go there.” Hugo shook his head.  
  
“Perhaps you can go on _another_ trip, when you _don't_ have a pack of ex- and active criminals with you.” Donella suggested.  
  
“We don't want to waste time, anyway, we don't know what the Moonstone will do.” Varian added.  
  
Rapunzel sighed and nodded. “Alright, alright. Let's move on.”  
  
Cassandra nodded and tugged on the reins. “Hyah!”  
  
“The sooner we get to the Great Tree, the sooner we can get through it.” Varian said, feeling a bit nervous about meeting this uncle he'd never met that was, apparently, likely to kill him. “No problem...we got this.”  
  
–  
  
The caravan continued down the road until they got close enough that Donella suggested they should stop for a rest.   
  
“Someone should scout ahead and see what we're dealing with.” Donella said as they got out to stretch their legs.  
  
“Sounds like a good excuse for a ride!” Rapunzel grinned, looking at Eugene and Varian. “Come on, let's get on the horses and go!”  
  
“It's been a while, huh?” Eugene got up.  
  
“While they do that, Cassandra, I'd like to train you some more.” Donella said as they headed for the horses.  
  
“Oh, of course!” Cassandra said eagerly.  
  
“You are _way_ too happy about getting your ass kicked.” Hugo smirked and went to get food ready with Lance.  
  
–  
  
“Come on, faster!” Rapunzel laughed as she and Varian rode on Fidella, ahead of Eugene and Maximus.  
  
“You're not winning this time!” Eugene said with a grin as he gripped the reins. “Come on, Maximus, our pride is on the line!”  
  
“Don't let him catch up, Fidella!” Varian encouraged as the two siblings laughed.  
  
Fidella smiled smugly back at Maximus as they rushed through the fields. Varian smiled and buried his face in his sister's back as he held on. “I missed this.” He admitted.  
  
“Me too. It's just like old times.” Rapunzel giggled a bit.  
  
“Yeah...” He sighed, then looked forward. “Uh, Rapunzel? We're coming up on a huge gap.”  
  
“I know.” Rapunzel said smugly. “Come on, Fidella, you can do it.”  
  
She neighed in response and they galloped to the edge and jumped, leaping over the gap. Maximus and Eugene followed closely after and they rode on, neck and neck, hoofs beating on the ground like two hearts pounding as one. Finally, Rapunzel overtook Eugene and she cheered before they slowed down to enjoy the ride from there.  
  
“Ah, this is nice.” Eugene chuckled. “Just you two, me, the horses and that big tree over there.”  
  
Varian gasped and slipped off of Fidella as Rapunzel tugged on the reins to stop her. “That's it.” He walked towards the edge and they both dismounted and walked over to join him. “The Great Tree.”  
  
“...Think we're ready to face Hector?” Rapunzel asked nervously.  
  
“We're gonna have to be.” Eugene said grimly. “We have to get through.”  
  
“You know what'd have r _eally_ come in handy during this trip? Andrew of Saporia's balloon. I should've studied it before I...you know...destroyed it.”  
  
“Ugggh, you just _had_ to bring him up.” Eugene groaned.  
  
Rapunzel clutched at her chest, worried for her family back home, then shook her head. She couldn't let herself get distracted. Corona had dealt with the Saporians before, they could do it again.  
  
“Well, we've seen the tree.” Eugene shrugged. “Let's head back and get going.”  
  
“It's getting pretty late, it might be best to make camp.” Rapunzel said as she walked back to Fidella. She stopped and turned to Varian. “Varian?”  
  
He looked at the tree, clutching at his chest. “Somewhere in there...is the spell to save my father.”  
  
“We'll find it.” Rapunzel assured him with a smile. “Come on, I bet Hugo's getting worried about you.”  
  
Varian blushed and went back to the horses. “Y-Yeah...probably.”  
  
“You two are s _o cute_!” She squealed.  
  
They got on the horses and headed back, unaware of eyes that watched them from the shadows before they disappeared, the owners scurrying towards the Great Tree.  
  
–  
  
Yellow-green eyes opened and shifted to look towards the binturongs approaching the owner. A gloved hand gripped the wall and the dark-haired man slowly stood up. “So, they have arrived, just as she said they would.” He held out a hand and a blade came out of his glove. “Time to separate the Sundrop from the Moonstone.” He grinned.  
  
–  
  
“Any sign of Adira yet?” Rapunzel asked as they packed up the next morning.   
  
“Nope.” Varian sighed. “I hope she shows soon, though.”  
  
“All packed up.” Hugo said, hopping out of the caravan. “That is, if Lance will stop preening.”  
  
“I'm just trying to look good for when I see Adira!” Lance insisted.  
  
“Like I said, preening.” Hugo smirked.  
  
Varian giggled. “Don't pick on him, Hugo, he just really wants to see her.”  
  
“Okay. I'll pick on _you_ , instead.” Hugo kissed his nose.  
  
“Heeey! Give me a _real_ kiss!” Varian chased him as he laughed and ran from him. “Come on!”  
  
“Kids, don't go too far.” Eugene called.  
  
“Oh, let them have fun.” Rapunzel smiled, hooking her arm around his.  
  
“Varian, Hugo!” Cassandra called, walking over to them. She stopped when she saw Hugo lying on the ground, his glasses askew as Varian sat on top of him, the two locked in a kiss. “Okay, come on. You can kiss inside.” She walked over them, then stopped short and drew her sword. “Seriously, get inside.”  
  
The teenagers both sat up and Hugo put his glasses right before they looked where she was.  
  
A dark-haired, feral-looking man sat atop a rhino, binturongs at his side.  
  
“...I'm guessing that;' the famous 'Uncle Hector'.” Hugo said nervously as he and Varian both ran for the caravan.  
  
The rhino roared and reared back and Cassandra ran for the caravan, grabbing the reins as she jumped in front next to Rapunzel and Eugene and sending them off at a run, the feral man and his beasts in hot pursuit.  
  
“A _rhino_?! She couldn't have warned us about the _rhino_?!” Hugo cried in disbelief as he and Varian looked out the back window.  
  
“Hugo, Varian, grab some alchemy. Let's slow him down.” Donella said, opening the skylight and climbing out.  
  
“Right!” They said in unison, going to grab whatever offensive alchemy they could find before following her up.  
  
“Wow, a rhinocerous!” Rapunzel said, poking her head up from the front. “Oh! I never thought I'd actually _see_ one! I gotta say, if it weren't chasing us and our lines weren't on the—“  
  
“But it is and they are so can you please duck back down?!” Varian said as he lifted a fully loaded alchemy cannon on his shoulder and fired it off, Hugo and Donella doing the same. The beasts swerved around the attacks and then the rhino slammed into the side of the caravan.  
  
“What does he want?!” Rapunzel cried.  
  
“Not sure.” Varian aimed his cannon down at the man and fired and he pulled on his rhino to quickly avoid the direct attack, leaving only goo on the caravan's side. “Tch. He dodged.” He dropped the empty cannon, removed a glove and held out his hand, his eyes and hair glowing as he summoned black rocks to attack the man. He swerved around them before finally jumping over them and landing onto the caravan itself.  
  
“Whoa! We've been boarded!” Hugo cried as Donella moved Varian behind her.  
  
“Give me the Moon Sliver and no one gets hurt.” The feral man said aggressively.  
  
“How about we don't do that?” Varian moved to the side and summoned a staff from his palm to knock into him. The man fell off with a loud curse and Varian retracted the staff before high-fiving Hugo with his other hand, the two of them grinning.  
  
“Don't celebrate just yet.” Donella said, pointing the man getting back on the rhino. He then threw a mace and it caught on the caravan, keeping them together. He said something to his rhino and it slowed down so the chain was taut and then he started to cross it, heading back to them again.  
  
“He's persistent.” Varian held out a hand.  
  
“I can handle him! Get back inside!”  
  
They looked up as Adira jumped down and slashed through the chain, forcing him to jump up and onto the caravan. She jumped up to intercept him and nodded firmly to the alchemists. “Get. Back. Inside.”  
  
“The Sliver must be reunited with the Moonstone, _without_ the Sundrop's interference!” The man said firmly.  
  
“Hector, _listen_ to yourself! You're blindly listening to her orders, despite everything she's done to us!” Adira cried.  
  
“And I'm going there _anyway_ , so she can leave me alone and let me go my _own_ way!” Varian said firmly as Donella coaxed him and Hugo into the skylight.  
  
“The Moonstone is displeased that you insist on bringing the Sundrop. She is displeased that you are taking so long.” He said, as if in a trance.   
  
“If that was a case, she'd have told me herself! She knows I'm coming already!” Varian said firmly. “I have frequent contact with her, so leave me alone!”   
  
The man paused then closed his eyes before his eyes glowed blue as he opened them. “No. More. Side-trips.” He then jumped off the caravan and back to his rhino.   
  
“...Okay...so she _might_ be getting a _bit_ impatient.” Varian sighed, rubbing at his head.  
  
“Question, how are we going to get this caravan through the tree?” Lance asked.  
  
“...We sail it downriver.” Donella suggested. “Maybe someone can stay with it?”  
  
Adira sighed and sheathed her sword. “This isn't going to be easy trek.” She informed them, then turned to Varian. “Are you alright?”  
  
“I think he'd sooner kill himself than hurt me.” Varian shrugged. “I'm fine, Aunt Adira. It's good to see you.” He smiled.  
  
She nodded, then motioned to the skylight before they all went back in.  
  
“Think we're done with him?” Hugo asked.  
  
“...No.” Varian sighed.   
  
“Not a chance.” Adira agreed.  
  
Donella sighed heavily. “Well, whatever he's planning, just know that we won't leave your side.”  
  
“Not for a moment.” Hugo said, taking Varian's hand and kissing it before putting his glove back on it.  
  
Varian smiled shyly. “I'm lucky to have you with me.” He looked around. “All of you.”  
  
“But especially Hugo.” Lance grinned, then looked at Adira. “They're dating now.”  
  
“Really?” Adira looked at Hugo. “Wait, you _just_ started? I thought you'd _been_ dating.”  
  
Hugo and Varian both made flustered sounds and she smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to go through the tree!


	45. 45

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While in the Great Tree, the group finds the spell they came for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

“Okay, so...why do we need to go _through_ the tree, anyway?” Hugo asked. “Why can't we just sail down the river?”  
  
“Well, because we don't actually know how that would go. It might be a good idea to, uh, secure anything we don't want destroyed by impact in black rocks.” Adira suggested. “We'll catch up with it later.”  
  
“Alright, I can do that.” Varian nodded. “I can use black rocks to safely lower it to the river, too.”  
  
“Besides, who _doesn't_ want to go through a big, scary tree?” Eugene asked optimistically.  
  
“Uh, I don't.” Lance said nervously.  
  
“We HAVE to go into the tree.” Varian reminded them. “I need to get that incantation to save my dad.” He held up Gothel's book.  
  
“...Right.” Hugo nodded. “Into the creepy ol' tree we go, then.”  
  
“Besides, this could be fun!” Rapunzel said eagerly.  
  
“Ah, yes. Fun. _Loads_ of fun evading Varian's murderous uncle in a creepy tree that is, what, possibly haunted?” Cassandra shrugged. “We're gonna have a _blast_.”  
  
“We'll be fine.” Adira assured them.  
  
They finished unpacking what they might need and then Varian secured everything else before securing the door to avoid any thieves trying to get in, and also to make sure it wasn't damaged.  
  
“So, now we're just gonna send this block of black rock drifting down the river?” Eugene asked. “Why can't you just lower into into the ground and summon it again later?”  
  
Varian blinked and looked at him. “...You think that would _work_?”  
  
“Worth a shot.” Eugene shrugged.  
  
Varian walked over to the caravan and placed his hand on it, focusing on sinking it into the ground. He gasped as it slid into the ground and he grinned. “It worked! Eugene, you're a genius!”  
  
Eugene grinned. “I've grown pretty acquainted with what you can do.”  
  
“Alright, with that settled let's go inside.” Adira nodded.  
  
–  
  
The tree was even _bigger_ up-close, and the way in was a doorway with vines hanging around it. Varian gasped as his streak started to glow and groaned. “Great. There's magic here.”  
  
“That's because this used to be known as the Great Tree of Zhan Tiri.” Donella explained. “Gothel talked about that in her book, remember?”  
  
“Zhan Tiri...” Varian clutched at his chest.  
  
“Oh, great, ol' creepy demon in the portal.” Hugo cringed. “Think we'll run into any of his, uh, goons?”  
  
“Disciples. And, who knows?” Donella shrugged.  
  
“Whoever we face, we'll take it on, no problem!” Rapunzel said enthusiastically. “Let's head into the tree and find that incantation!”  
  
They nodded and headed inside.  
  
\--  
  
High above them, ice-blue eyes glowed green as a figure tilted their head curiously before a wide, wolf-like smile spread across his face.  
  
“Well, well, well. What do we have _here_? The Sundrop _and_ the Moonstone in the Great Tree? How...fortuitous.”  
  
His eyes shifted to look at the feral man glaring at the group from the road. “This should be an interesting way to spend my day. I've been _so_ dreadfully bored since my unsealing.” He chuckled and disappeared into the tree.  
  
Far below, Hector headed for another way into the tree, intending to cut off the group.  
  
–  
  
“Whoa...” Rapunzel breathed. “Look at this place!”  
  
“It looks like we have to go up one way...and down another.” Donella said, tracing their route with her finger.  
  
“Whoa, creepy alert!” Hugo drew their attention to something on the wall. Adira walked over and cut down the little tree blocking it to reveal a carving of Zhan Tiri fully.  
  
“According to legend,” Adira said, and they turned to her to listen, “millennia ago, this tree was once a sentient being, a force for good. But, it was corrupted by the evil sorcerer Zhan Tiri to destroy any who approached.” She looked at the carving. “It was Zhan Tiri's stronghold. Inside it, he was invincible.”  
  
“What happened, how did they get him out?” Varian asked.  
  
She smiled. “Lord Demanitus put a stop to the tree's magic using an enchanted spear.” Adira explained. “So, you see, you have nothing to fear. The evil magic is long gone.”  
  
Varian jolted as he heard some distant laughter and looked around. “...Did anyone else hear that?”  
  
“...Maybe it was the wind.” Lance said nervously.  
  
“Or Hector.” Donella reasoned.  
  
“Let's move on.” Rapunzel suggested.  
  
“Y-Yeah.” Varian wrapped his arms around her waist and she smiled, rubbing his head as they walked on.  
  
Hugo glanced back and paled as he saw vines come out of the ground around the stump and lift the fallen part of the tree Adira had cut down, lifting it back in place and restoring it like it had never been cut.  
  
'The evil magic is _gone_... _right_?' He thought anxiously, looking forward and hurrying to catch up with everyone.  
  
–  
  
“You know, creepy backstory and murderous feral uncle aside, this would be a great place for a picnic!” Lance said cheerfully as they walked, then stopped to look at a flower. “Ohh, look at the flow--”  
  
“Drexis.” Donella reminded him, and he stepped short and backed away from them. “Don't take any chances. We stick together, no matter what.”  
  
“Yeek, more of ol' creepy demon.” Hugo pointed up at the doorways ahead of them. “Which way do we go?”  
  
“This way.” Varian said, walking down a path. “I don't know why, but...I feel like...we're supposed to go _this_ way.”  
  
“Yes, this is the correct way.” Adira assured them as they followed him.  
  
“I don't like how we haven't seen any sign of Hector yet.” Cassandra said warily, then frowned at the armor and weapons along the walls. “Where is the war?”  
  
“I'd say these are leftover from when Zhan Tiri ran the place. Maybe they were even...filled with people, who died and turned to dust in their armor after millennia of being trapped.” Varian said as he poked as a vine wrapped around one of the armor.  
  
Donella got up and moved one of the helmets, then cringed. “Or were turned to stone.”  
  
The stone head underneath was locked in a fearful expression, a reflection of his last moments of life.  
  
“That's.,..terrifying.” Hugo said nervously. “Hey, uh, guys? I saw something earlier that...uh...I don't think the evil is fully gone.”  
  
“What do you mean?” Varian asked as Adira cut a vine and they stepped through a doorway. “Whoa...”  
  
“Whoa” was right. The walls were _covered_ in inscriptions, and there were scrolls on shelves and on the ground around a pond surrounded by tall, towering trees.  
  
“Hey, look!” Rapunzel pointed at the wall. “It's the same as on the scroll!”  
  
Varian nodded. “Then, that incantation must be in here!” He went to check out the scrolls and Rapunzel followed him with Lance, Adira, Cassandra and Eugene.  
  
“Hugo, you were saying?” Donella turned to him.  
  
“I saw that...that tree that Adira cut down earlier, it, uh, vines came out of the ground, grabbed it and...fixed it.” Hugo rubbed at his wrist nervously. “Kind of..y-y'know....creepy, right?”  
  
“Hm.” Donella nodded. “We'll keep a look out. For now, let's go join the others and find that incantation.” She walked over to them.  
  
“Uhm...okay.” Hugo nodded.  
  
“Found something!” Cassandra held up a scroll. Varian and Rapunzel went to her side and she handed it to Varian, who opened it up and gasped. “What? What is it?”  
  
“'Flower, gleam and glow. Let your power shine'...” Varian said softly.  
  
“...It's Gothel's handwriting. This is where she found the Healing incantation.” Rapunzel explained.  
  
“Found something else!” Lance held up another scroll and brought it over. “Looks like it's been translated.”  
  
“Let me see.” Varian accepted it as Rapunzel closed the other scroll. “Yeah, she did this one, too. She said she knew only one Moonstone incantation. This must be the one she mentioned in her book, the one she refused to teach me.”  
  
“Try it out?” Eugene suggested.  
  
Varian nodded and walked forward. “Wither and decay. End this destiny. Break these earthly chains and set the spirit free.” He paused. “Huh, nothing happened.”  
  
“Try removing your gloves.” Donella suggested.  
  
Varian looked at his gloves, then nodded and removed them before he took them off and handed both the gloves and scroll to Hugo. Then he cleared his throat and started to sing.  
  
 _“Wither and decay,  
End this destiny._”  
  
He slowly knelt down, his eyes and hair glowing, and pressed his hands against the ground.  
  
“ _Break these earthly chains  
And set the spirit free._”  
  
They gasped as the world started to turn blue around him and the plants started to die. Eugene gasped and clutched at his stomach, stepping back. “Varian? Kid, can you...stop? Please?”  
  
“ _The spirit free..._ ”  
  
“Varian!” Rapunzel gasped and ran to him. “Varian, what--” She gasped, seeing his eyes had turned black, his gaze blank. “Varian!” She gripped his shoulders and shook him. “Varian, wake up!”  
  
As everyone coughed and groaned around them and Rapunzel was focused on Varian, Hugo weakly looked up and paled as he saw a vine coming out of the ground. It struck Varian in the back and he yelped in alarmed pain before it fell to the ground, life returning to the area.  
  
“W-What happened?” Varian looked over his shoulder. “What hit me?”  
  
“...This thing.” Hugo walked over and poked at the vine. It didn't move, or show any sign of sentient life. “...What happened?”  
  
“I-I don't know. A voice was...whispering to me.” Varian said, wrapping his arms around himself. “Telling me to...to kill you all, to get you out of the way. I think it was...the Moonstone? Maybe? But, it didn't...quite sound like her...”  
  
“Well, that was a close call, wasn't it?”  
  
They all quickly got up as a brown-haired stranger dressed in blue lowered himself down to them on a large vine. “You need to be careful, little Moon. The energy here can be...enchanting, especially for one to attuned to the dark.”  
  
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” Rapunzel asked, moving Varian behind her.  
  
“Oh, me? I'm just someone who lives here and decided to help you out. Your welcome~!” He grinned. “Name's Lucas.”  
  
“Okay...Lucas.” Cassandra moved forward, her hand on her sword. “Why were you watching us?”  
  
“I told you, I live here. Isn't it natural for someone to watch strangers that enter their home?” Lucas asked casually.  
  
“Why do you live here? How long have you lived here?” Adira asked, her brow furrowing.  
  
Lucas started to walk around the pond. “Oh...a long, long time. But, I wasn't living here for most of it. I was...trapped, you see.” He examined his nails and then grinned at them. “I should thank you, little Moon and his loyal knight, for setting me free that night.”  
  
“What are you talking about?” Varian asked.  
  
“Oh...” he chuckled and his ice-blue eyes glowed a familiar green color, “I'm talking about during the blizzard, of course.”  
  
“You're a Disciple of Zhan Tiri!” Varian jumped back.  
  
“I am! Or was. She got sealed away and, well, now I'm aimlessly wandering, unsure of what to do, where to go. So, I came back here.” He slipped his hands into his pockets and turned to them, now across the pond from them. “And now, lo and behold, you've left the safety of your Kingdom and come a long way from home. Where are you going, hm?”  
  
“Why should we tell you?” Cassandra asked warily.  
  
“I mean, I _did_ just save your life.” He chuckled. “But, hey, I like guessing games! Let me see if I can figure it out based on what I've been overhearing.” He summoned a vine from the ground and it stretched out over the pond, letting him walk across it to get back to them. “You and your merry band are on the way to the Dark Kingdom to join the Moonstone Opal. You came to this tree to not only pass through it, but ALSO to find a way to free your father from the amber he was trapped in during the blizzard. Am I getting it right so far?”  
  
Varian nodded. “...So...what do you want with us?”  
  
“Me? Nothing.” He chuckled. “Well, besides a 'thank you'.”  
  
“O-Oh, right.” Varian blushed a bit. “Uhm, thank you.”  
  
“Hm.” Lucas nodded. “Well, now, I suppose you'll be getting on with your quest. Perhaps I'll see you again sometime after you leave the tree.”  
  
“Wait, so...you're _not_ going to sacrifice us to your creepy demon-goat god?” Lance asked.  
  
“Pft, Zhan Tiri was no god.” Lucas laughed. “She was just a human that made a Deal with a demon and became one herself, then made a _whole_ bunch of mistakes. No, she was a decent cover when I was on the run, we had great fun, but I'm still getting to know this era and she'd be...distracting.”  
  
“You keep saying 'she'...” Eugene raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Zhan Tiri was born a woman. As a demon, she took many shapes; male, female, in-between, and inanimate. But, she was a woman by default.” Lucas shrugged. “Anyways, what is gender when you're an all-powerful creature?”  
  
“That explains why those creepy bird people said 'she' and 'her', too.” Varian recalled.  
  
“Anyways, I've kept you long enough. I'll see you around.” He called down another vine and lifted into the canopy above.  
  
“...He was weird.” Hugo frowned.  
  
“Definitely.” Donella nodded.  
  
“So...what now?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“Let's move on.” Varian sighed. “Hugo, my gloves?”  
  
He nodded and handed them to him. “So...?”  
  
“I think that, uhm...that decay spell we found is the one she was talking about. We'll have to try it out to know if it'll work on my dad's amber.” Varian said as he pulled his gloves on. “For now...we get through the tree.”  
  
“At least we know creepy cultist guy isn't going to be trouble.” Eugene frowned. “Varian, is your back okay?”  
  
“Yeah, it's fine. It felt like when you smack my back, that's all.” Varian assured him.  
  
“Good to know.” Eugene nodded.  
  
Donella looked up at where the guy went, then shook her head as they walked on. Somehow, she doubted that they were done with Lucas.  
  
–  
  
Sure enough, he reappeared as they were climbing the tree. “You look a little lost.”  
  
“No, we're fine.” Adira assured him.  
  
“You sure? Because this place _can_ get confusing.” He strolled alongside them. “Hey, want to know something about the tree a lot of people don't know?”  
  
“Sure!” Varian smiled.  
  
“So, you know how it's sentient, right? That's because this tree is a cursed Goddess of Life. She was cursed by a demon more powerful than Zhan Tiri, a long, long time ago. I heard it was the demon that turned _her_ into one!” He grinned.  
  
“Is that true, or are you bullshitting us?” Hugo asked.  
  
“It's true, heard it from Zhan Tiri herself.” Lucas said casually.  
  
“So, what was Demanitus like?” Varian asked.  
  
“Demanitus? Heh, I only ever knew him as an enemy. Seems he took us destroying Saporia _really personal_.”  
  
“What?” Donella frowned.  
  
“Oh, yeah.” Lucas chuckled. “Corona and Saporia hate each other because WE wanted the flower that Saporia was protecting.” He reached out and ran his hand along Rapunzel's braid. “The Sundrop Flower.”  
  
She jerked it away from him and held Varian protectively. “The Disciples of Zhan Tiri started the war against Saporia to...to get the _Sundrop Flower_?”  
  
“Fun fact! Just as the Moonstone Opal had the Dark Brotherhood to protect it, so too did the Sundrop Flower! The Saporian Royal Family had been watching over the Sundrop Flower for _generations_ , ever since it fell, before _we_ got involved and...took them out of the equation.” Lucas chuckled.  
  
“What did you do?” Rapunzel asked with horror. They'd stopped climbing and were now on a wide platform.  
  
“What's the story, as far as you know?” Lucas asked curiously. “Why did the war start?”  
  
“I...I don't know, I just know how it ended.” Rapunzel said nervously.  
  
“You don't know.” Lucas hummed thoughtfully. “The Princess of Corona doesn't know her own _twisted_ family history. Tsk, tsk, Your Majesty. You're just _burying_ those skeletons, aren't you?”  
  
“Enough games!” Cassandra snapped. “What do you know?!”  
  
“Temper, temper, Lady-in-Waiting! You'd think you'd have a little more patience.” Lucas chuckled.  
  
She reached for her sword and Varian shook his head. “...Kch.” She moved her hand away from it.  
  
“Relax, okay? I'm getting to it.” Lucas assured her.  
  
“Please, continue.” Rapunzel prompted.  
  
He grinned in his wolfish way again. “Alright. So, the story you all heard is that there was a big war that ended in a love story, right? Sorry to break to you, sweetheart, but there was no love story. The war was started by us toying with your ancestor's fear of the unknown and his lust for the Saporian General, Shampanier. You see, the Saporians were experts of alchemy, inventing, and magic. They partnered with pegasi and dragons, they _ruled the skies_ , _nothing_ was beyond their reach. They were beautiful and powerful...and dangerous.” He chuckled. “You know what I'm talking about, don't you?” He looked at Donella. “I see the recognition in your eyes, a long-deserted vengeance that refuses to be snuffed.”  
  
“What. Did. You. Do?” She asked coldly.  
  
He chuckled. “Ah, there it is. You're just _itching_ to kill me, aren't you? But, you know that if you do, you may never find out what happened back then.” He walked over and hopped onto a fallen pillar. “Two of our best agents went to Corona two days before the war started and enticed King Herz Der Sonne into taking action. And, oh, action he did _take_.” He laughed. “Saporian and Coronian blood was spilt. Anyone that tried to stop was controlled by one of our agents into continuing to fight. When the battle was over and the Royal Family had fled and General Shampanier was made to be Herz's unwilling bride, we went to the temple protecting the Sundrop Flower, killed the guards that created the wards, and _destroyed it_. Oh, it was brilliant! We were having the time of our _very_ long lives!”  
  
He sighed. “But, then Regulus had to go and...ruin the _ride_. When we turned our sights to destroy Corona, he said he was done and went to leave, only to be transformed into an animal and set loose on the woods. Then Demanitus challenged us to battle and we left Gothel to watch the Sundrop Flower. We faced him in the 'Demanitus Chamber' and he sealed those of us that couldn't escape in time away. From what I hear, Zhan Tiri was sealed away in another dimension not too long after.”  
  
He grinned. “The truth of the Coronian and Saporian war was buried under generations of royal history, Saporian culture was erased from the history books and the Saporians were painted as rebels that just didn't like the new status quo, the true reason for their fight lost to time, to everyone but them. And yet, here you stand together, Saporian and Coronian. What common goal drives you?” His eyes glinted as he saw how Donella moved closer to Varian. “Ahhh...I see. You both seek to protect the Moon Child. The 'Sliver' Zhan Tiri dreamed of. I can understand why the Sundrop is protecting him, but why do _you_ , Saporian?” He grinned.  
  
“He's the son of a dear friend of mine.” Donella replied.  
  
“Why are we still listening to this guy?” Eugene asked. “How do we know he's not making all of this up?!”  
  
“Ah, yes, how do you know? How do you know _she's_ even telling the truth? How do you know that this woman that claims to be in the Brotherhood is really who she says she is? How do we know that _you_ aren't lying to them all? Truth is a tricky, tricky thing, and it requires a lot of _trust_ to just accept.” He hopped down. “Now _I_ , for one, have no reason to lie. What do I gain from telling you this? Nothing. It's just a fun little story to pass the time. Pray tell, what _happened_ to that dear friend? Why aren't they here?”  
  
“She was trapped in a library created by Demanitus, I...I couldn't get her out.” Donella insisted.  
  
“Couldn't, or _wouldn't_?” Lucas grinned.  
  
“Enough of you!” Adira drew her sword and swung at him. He burst into green flame and disappeared before she could strike him, laughing. They were left in the silence he left behind, interrupted only by Adira sheathing her sword.  
  
“...I think we should stop and rest.” Rapunzel said softly. “We've been...walking a while. Varian? Can you make a shelter from this stone?”  
  
Varian nodded and created a little house for them to stay in, just like on the island with the leaf people. They entered quietly and he closed it up so they could have privacy and relax for the night.  
  
“He was just...toying with us.” Rapunzel said as she pulled out lanterns from her bag and lit them, Varian creating hooks for her to hang them up. “Eugene's right, we don't know how much of that is truth.”  
  
“Only way we can know for sure is to ask...Donella?” Varian turned to her. “How much of that _was_ true?”  
  
She sighed and crossed her arms, her expression grim. “...Two days before the war, the Saporians sensed a danger, a evil presence, entering Corona. They sent someone to check and found the King talking to cloaked figures. Then the war began.” She stood up and walked to a window, looking out it. “Everything he said was true. The Sundrop Flower being protected by the Royal Family, Corona starting the war, the Disciples, everything. They...ruined everything.” She tightened her hold on her arms and Varian got up to join her, gently placing his hand on her arm. She smiled at him, then sighed. “For generations, our people have gone to try to get our land back, to get recompense, to at least have the truth be known, but the Kings have always...always shut us down. What he didn't tell you is that anyone that didn't escape was enslaved or made second-class citizens of Corona. Our ancestral home was destroyed.”  
  
“It's no wonder Andrew was so...desperate.” Varian muttered.  
  
“But, that doesn't excuse all they've done.” Donella sighed. “And if he's attacking Corona...”  
  
“What about what he said at the end?” Cassandra asked. “What happened to his mother?”  
  
Donella tensed. “She...I sealed her away in the Eternal Library, after she...changed.” She turned to them. “Something in the library corrupted her, changed her into a demon, and I...she was going to....to attack people. I HAD to seal her away, but I wish to all the stars that I didn't!” She walked over and entered one of the side rooms. “Sorry...let me be alone for a bit?”  
  
“Okay.” Rapunzel nodded, and then they set to work preparing their meal while they let her be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeesh, the exposition! That guy just goes on and on, doesn't he? Weirdo.


	46. 46

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donella opens up about her feelings on sealing Ulla.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

Between Hector and Lucas, no one felt safe outside of the shelter, so they opted to stay inside it until morning. No one wanted to be ambushed in the night, after all.  
  
“What if he comes down the chimney?” Lance asked.  
  
“Then he'll fall into the fire.” Eugene assured him.  
  
“Ohh, okay.” Lance nodded.  
  
Varian chuckled, imagining Hector launching himself out of the fire with his butt on fire. Footsteps alerted him to Donella coming out to rejoin them and she walked over to sit next to him on one of the couches quietly.  
  
“Hey.” He greeted. “How are you feeling?”  
  
“Not much better.” She admitted. “Varian...do you hold it against me at all?”  
  
“Hold what?” Varian blinked, tilting his head in confusion.  
  
“Coming back without your mother... _leaving_ her there...sealing her...inside.” She wrapped her arms around herself, pursing her lips tightly.  
  
“What? No! Of course not!” Varian placed his hand on her arm. “Donella, how could I be angry with you for doing something that you not only had no choice in but also _didn't want to do_? Is this because of what that Lucas guy said?”  
  
Donella sighed and stood up, walking over to look out the window, the moonlight shining in at her. “That day...if I'd kept a better eye on her...if I...if I'd stayed, maybe I could've found a way to help, but...I was...afraid.” She looked down in shame. “I was _afraid_ of her.”  
  
“Donella.” Varian got up and walked over to her, Hugo doing the same. “Donella, you can't blame yourself for it. You said so yourself, you had to seal her away because she wanted to hurt people! No one thinks you should've stayed and fought to your last breath!”  
  
She looked up at the dark ceiling. “...I do.” She admitted softly. “ _I_ think that.”  
  
“Donella.” Varian frowned.  
  
Donella closed her eyes and sang softly.  
  
“ _When I had to seal her away,  
there is so much I failed to say._”  
  
She looked at Varian, a sad smile in her eyes.  
  
“ _Why did I not try much harder,  
to bring her back to your father?_”  
  
She turned and walked away a bit.  
  
“ _Now, I'll never get to say_

_all the things I should have said._

_Because of me, there's only echoes of_

_a life you should have led!_ ”  
  
She threw her hands out to the side.  
  
“ _If I could take that moment back,_

_If I could keep her mind from breaking,_ ”  
  
She turned back to Varian.  
  


“s _he would be here with you right now._ ”

_instead, we're both here aching._ ”  
  
She brought a hand to her chest, clutching at the tough fabric of her shirt.  
  
Varian sighed. “Donella...”  
  
“No, Varian...” She shook her head.  
“ _Maybe, if I didn't run,_

_maybe, if we didn't go,_

_maybe things would be different, but_

_now we may never know._ ”  
  
She walked towards him and he smiled sadly to her, his eyes so similar to her, his smile, his face, even his freckles - everything about him was a reminder of his mother to her. She reached out and gently cupped his face in both hands, tears welling up her eyes.  
  
“I _f I could take that moment back,_

_If I could turn back time I would._ ”  
  
She stepped back, looking away in shame.  
  


“ _If we could mend her tainted heart..._

_how I wish we could._ ”  
  
She walked back over to the window, staring up at the moonlight.  
  
“ _Wish I could take it back,_

_but now she's gone_

_for good._ ”  
  
She gasped as Varian walked up and hugged her from behind, burying his face in her back. She smiled shakily and turned to him, wrapping her arms around him, holding him so close, so tight, as she slumped to her knees before him.  
  
“ _Oh, I wish I had that moment back..._ ” She whispered, her head bowed.  
  
“I don't blame you, Donella. I never have. And I don't think mom would, either.” He looked at her with a shaky smile and she slowly looked up at him. “You did what you could. If you hadn't escaped, we would've _never_ known about what happened to her until we saw her attacking someone and...then dad would've had to...” he looked to the side, “protect the people.”  
  
Donella sighed and slowly got up. “But, I didn't tell you. I didn't tell you anything.”  
  
“I think the truth, at that time, would've hurt more than just assuming she died.” Varian said softly. “Dad was...already pretty stressed out, but if he found out that mom turned into a demon trying to find the reason for my powers, a reason he _already knew_ , then he'd hate himself more than he probably already does.”  
  
Donella sighed and slowly got up. “I still feel terrible, though.”  
  
“Seriously, don't. You should be _proud_ of yourself for being strong enough to keep her from hurting people!” Varian assured her.  
  
Donella smiled a bit.  
  
Suddenly, the walls of the little house they were in dropped open and they all got up in alarm as the house was reduced to nothing, dropping a dozing Lance onto the floor.  
  
“Huh? What'd I miss?” He asked.  
  
“Well, that was sweet, but I'm afraid we have business.” Hector said, walking up to them with glowing, blue eyes.  
  
“So, now you're _possessing people_?!” Varian asked.  
  
“Only the loyal. Adira has locked me out.” Hector – No, the Moonstone – said bitterly. “You are wasting time with these people, Sliver. I want you to continue to the Dark Kingdom with this man.”  
  
“I will _not_.” Varian said firmly, his eyes narrowing.  
  
Rapunzel moved forward. “You're not taking him from me!”  
  
“Our business does not concern you, Sundrop!” The Moonstone said furiously. “I have put up with your interference for long enough, you will allow him to continue on with Hector of the Brotherhood and return to Corona.” Hector's lips were curled into a sneer. “With your hair's connection to my power, you should be able to use the spell to free Quirin. Isn't that what you came for?”  
  
“I'm not leaving my brother.” Rapunzel said coldly as everyone else took fighting stances and Cassandra moved Varian behind her.  
  
“He's not your brother, you were just kidnapped by the same woman!” The Moonstone said in an offended tone.  
  
“She raised us together, he _is_ my brother!” Rapunzel said firmly. “We don't need to be blood-related for that!”  
  
“Oh, me...” She made Hector groan. “It seems I will have to do this the hard way. Hector, kill everyone but the Sundrop and my Sliver. That should shut her up and make her listen.”  
  
His eyes went back to normal. “By your command.” He summoned his blade.  
  
Adira drew her sword. “Hector, you have to listen to me! The Moonstone is not good and kind anymore, she's become cruel! You cannot let her do this! Please, brother!”  
  
“You ain't my brethren!” He lunged at her. Cassandra moved Varian to Lance and then ran forward to join the fight.  
  
“I can fight, you know!” He said, pulling out goo bombs and throwing them.  
  
Hector dodged around one, then another, but the third one caught his leg and he hissed before a black rock came out and broke him free, letting him continue fighting.  
  
“You can stop this, you know.” Varian tensed and turned to see the Moonstone standing nearby in a Gothel form again. “Just agree to leave them.”  
  
“I'm not going with you!” Varian snapped, summoning black rocks. “Rapunzel and I are going to the Dark Kingdom _together_ and, when we do, I'm going to absorb you into my body so you NEVER hurt anyone AGAIN!” He fired them off at her and she used her own power to stop them short. “Damn it, stop cheating!”  
  
He created a sword and swung it at her and she sunk into the ground before coming out another place. “Just. Stop!” He yelled.  
  
He gasped as he noticed green, glowing vines moving over the ground and the tree shaking. The Moonstone looked alarmed before sinking into the ground and didn't come back up as the vines covered over the stone.  
  
“What is this?” Eugene asked as they stepped back from the vines that were starting to close in on Hector. They wrapped around him and he cried out in alarm as they lifted him into the air.  
  
“Hector!” Adira ran forward and tried to cut him out, but the vines only regenerated as she cut them. “Let him go!”  
  
“Why, so he can try to kill you again?”  
  
Varian gasped and turned to see Lucas sitting on a tree as he held up a glowing hand, his eyes glowing green as more vines came up to bind Hector's beasts. “You're...helping us?”  
  
“You guys entertain me. I'd be a shame if you were to die here, especially since I'm _very_ interested in who will win that final battle, you or the stronger, older, _more powerful_ Moonstone Opal?” He gave a wolfish grin. “Me, I'm rooting for the underdog.”  
  
“Please, don't kill him!” Adira cried.  
  
“Relax, sweetheart,” Adira made a face at Lucas as he went on, “your brother's not going to die. I'm just holding him here until you get out of here, because, even if _he_ wants to stop fighting, it's pretty clear that the Moonstone won't _let_ him stop. Which is _fascinating_ , really!”  
  
“Let go!” Hector yelled.  
  
“The exit is through there.” Vines parted to reveal a doorway. “You'd best be getting on, hm?”  
  
Adira looked at the exit, then at Hector. “...Go without me.” She turned to the others. “I'll stay here and talk to Hector. If _I_ can block her out, so can he.”  
  
Varian walked over to her anxiously. “Are you sure?”  
  
She nodded with a smile and reached up to rub his head. “I'll see you again in the Dark Kingdom.”  
  
“Be safe.” He hugged her and she gasped before sighing and rubbing his head again. Then he stepped back and nodded to the others.  
  
“Seriously, don't get yourself killed here.” Donella told her. “There's no shame in running away, right?”  
  
“If you had the opportunity to go back and save her, even if it was risky, would you take it?” Adira asked her with a smile.  
  
Donella's eyes widened and she nodded. “Good luck.” She held out a hand and Adira took it, the two giving a firm handshake before Donella turned to the others. “Let's get out of here, people!”  
  
“We'll see you again in the Dark Kingdom?” Rapunzel asked as they fled the tree. “That's a promise, right?!”  
  
Adira smiled at them. “Promise.”  
  
The vines closed over the doorway once they were all through.  
  
–  
  
Once outside, Varian summoned the caravan again and, just to be safe, removed the black rocks from around it. Now that they knew she was actively trying to get in their way and force him to continue without Rapunzel, it didn't feel so safe anymore.  
  
“So...that cultist guy...is he on our side or what?” Eugene asked as they went in to make sure everything was okay.  
  
“I...don't know. I think he's neutral.” Varian shrugged.  
  
“ _That's_ dangerous.” Hugo frowned. “We don't know _when_ he'll go one way or the other.”  
  
“Well, we'll worry about him when he shows hostility. For now, he's not a concern like the Moonstone is.” Varian groaned. “Why did she have to get hostile? I'm on the way, geez. Does she think you're going to stop me from going to her or something?”  
  
“Well, I won't.” Rapunzel assured him. “But, I'm still going to be there for you.”  
  
“Let's get going before the Moonstone comes after us.” Cassandra said, and they hitched up the horses and got going, Varian anxiously stroking Ruddiger's fur after he hopped into his lap, his brow furrowed in concern.  
  
Rapunzel looked out the window behind them, towards the tree they'd left behind. Should she be _concerned_ about the ominous, green glowing it was doing?  
  
“Rapunzel?” Varian waved his hand in front of her face. “Sis?”  
  
“Huh?” She looked at him.  
  
“I asked if you wanted to play chess?” He gestured to the board.  
  
Rapunzel smiled. “Sure.”  
  
“So, where's next on our map?” Eugene asked, and Donella pulled out Gothel's map to study it.  
  
“West Ipsil.” She informed them. “But, that's not for quite some time.” She frowned, her brow furrowed.  
  
“Don?” Hugo asked.  
  
“I'm just wondering what this mark here is.” She pointed at something on the map. “It's a bit smudged.”  
  
“Check!” Varian said cheerfully.  
  
“How?! It's only been five moves!” Rapunzel protested.  
  
“You left yourself _wide open_ , sister!” Varian said, leaning back in his chair casually.  
  
“Hmm...” Rapunzel studied the board.  
  
“Whatever it is, we'll figure it out.” Eugene assured Donella. “Until then, let's not worry about it.”  
  
Donella nodded and rolled up the map. “Alright...so, to West Ipsil, then.”  
  
“Do you think Adira is okay?” Lance asked anxiously.  
  
“I'm sure she's fine, Lance.” Eugene assured him. “She's amazing, remember?”  
  
Lance smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Lucas friend, foe, or something else?  
> We can't worry about that, because the Moonstone's getting aggressive!

**Author's Note:**

> When will the nightmare finally end?


End file.
